■I  The  Romance  of  A 

^^_^_  JO 

|i  Heavenly  Princess 

Bertha- Charlotta  Doering 


alifornia 

clonal 

dlity 

\^_ ^1 


l.-tf^^L..P' 


MISS  BERTHA-CHARLOTTA  DOERING 

Formerly  of  Stockholm,  Sweden 
Now  of  Los  Angeles,  California 

Ordained  Missionary  and  Minister  of 
the  Gospel 


f     The  Romance  of  A 

a 

j      Heavenly  Princess 
i 

i 

I  As  Told  by  Herself 


By 
Bertha -Charlotta  Doering 


] 

I  The  "Trust  in^God "^Publishing  House 

I  Los  Angeles,  California 

I 


Copyright  by 

C.  A.  Person. 

1921. 


SRLF 


o^ri^^Hoc-, 


1 


'D 


MRS.  C.  A.  PIERSON 

of  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania 


In  Love  and  Gratitude  Dedicated  to 
Her  Closest  Friend,  Mrs.  Charlotte  A. 
Pierson,  Whose  Faithfulness  and  Self- 
sacrifices  Has  Made  This  Book  Possi- 
ble. 


A  PREFACE  OF  INTEREST  WHICH 
YOU  OUGHT  TO  READ. 

A  little  more  than  two  years  ago  while  con- 
ducting in  the  Swedish  language  some  mission- 
ary meetings  in  a  large  Scandinavian  Church,  I 
picked  up  a  story  written  by  Mrs.  Gene  Stratton 
Porter,  the  well-known  lover  of  woods,  flowers, 
birds,  and  God's  wonderful  world  in  general, 

When  I  first  noticed  the  book  on  a  table  in 
my  temporal  residence  at  New  York  City,  I  had 
no  intention  of  reading  it.  In  fact,  I  did  not 
understand  the  English  enough  to  be  able  to 
read  any  book  or  article  in  that  language.  The 
attractive  pictures  from  the  Limberlost  in  this 
particular  book,  however,  drew  me  to  such  an 
extent  that  I  felt  quite  a  desire  to  see  what  it 
was  all  about,  and  so  with  a  dictionary  to  assist 
me  I  started,  very  slowly  and  painstakingly,  to 
read.  Gradually  it  begin  to  dawn  on  .me  that 
the  English  (at  least  the  kind  which  Mrs.  Porter 
employed)  was  a  very  beautiful  language  indeed, 
and  at  the  same  time  my  desire  to  get  better 
acquainted  with  it  deepened.  Greatly  attached 
to  Mrs.  Porter's  style  of  writing,  I  kept  on  read- 
ing her  books  until  I  understood  every  word  of 
her  vocabulary,  and  had  a  fair  amount  of  words 
for  my  own  use.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  charm 
and  beauty  of  Mrs.  Porter's  language,  I  may 
have  kept  on, among  the  Swedish  speaking  settle- 
ments in  this  country  without  every  trying  to 
acquire  any  English  at  all. 


PREFACE. 

Now,  the  point  which  I  wish  to  make  of  the- 
above  is  this:  Having  had  only  TWO  YEARS 
of  practice  in  the  EngUsh  language,  and  with  no 
gramatical  study  whatever,  would  not  YOU 
think  it  possible  to  be  just  a  little  bit  lenient  and 
forbearing  in  your  criticism  of  this  book  ?  Surely 
you  will  not  expect  me  to  master  the  English  in 
such  a  way  as  to  create  the  language  of  this, 
life-story  a  joy  and  a  pleasure  like  the  books, 
for  instance,  of  Mrs.  Porter. 

There  are  some  things,  however,  which  may 
help  as  an  excuse  for  the  existence  of  this  auto- 
biography. While  the  books  of  the  mentioned 
Authoress  are  fiction,  THIS  IS  A  TRUE 
DESCRIPTION  FROM  REAL  LIFE,  and 
while  hers  are  great  literary  masterpieces  to  the 
glory  of  mankind,  THIS  IS  WRITTEN  WITH 
THE  SOLE  OBJECT  OF  GLORIFYING 
GOD— DEO  SOLO  GLORIA. 

To  be  still  more  explicit,  I  have  THREE 
MOTIVES  in  sending. out  this  little  paper-mis- 
sionary. 

Firstly,  I  wish  to  add  my  own  testimony  to 
that  of  others  of  God's  faithfulness  and  fatherly 
love  in  Jesus  Christ,  proving  to  you  that  He  is 
a  very  real  and  personal  God,  Father  and  Friend, 
willing  to  hear  and  to  answer  prayers. 

Secondly,  I  most  keenly  desire  to  make  you' 
interested  in  the  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY- 
WORK  as  well  as  in  the  HOME  MISSION^ 


PREFACE. 

knowing  as  I  do  that  "  the  harvest  truly  is  plente- 
ous and  the  laborers  few." 

Thirdly,  I  would  like  very  much  to  have  this 
book  a  financial  success  in  order  to  get  some 
money  to  deposit  in  the  Heavenly  Bank. 

My  heart  is  torn  of  love  and  compassion  for 
the  Laplanders  in  Lapland,  the  neglected  Indian 
Tribes  of  the  United  States,  the  heathens  in 
Africa  and  India  and  elsewhere.  It  has  always 
been  my  most  puzzling  problem  how  to  be  en- 
abled to  divide  my  time,  strength  and  life  for 
the  ministry  to  a  whole  world,  and  I  have  arrived 
at  the  conclusion  that  the  best  and  most  practical 
way  is  to  have  SUBSTITUTES.  Being  unable 
to  GO  everywhere  I  have  asked  my  heavenly 
Father  if  I  may  not  support  missionaries  in  the 
places  where  I  will  be  unable  to  be  in  person. 
YOU  MAY  HAVE  THE  HONOR  AND 
PRIVILEGE  TO  HELP  FATHER  TO 
ANSWER  THAT  PETITION  OF  MINE  BY 
DOING  YOUR  VERY  BEST  TO  DIS- 
TRIBUTE THIS  BOOK. 

Thanking  you  for  all  and  everything  you  can 
do  in  behalf  of  the  Lord's  cause,  I  am,  my  friend 
and  co-worker, 
Yours  in  the  Royal  Service  of  our  great  King^ 

Bertha-Charlotta  Doering. 

Los  Angeles,  California,  May   17,  1921. 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  I. 

Her  Grandmother    9 

CHAPTER  n. 

Her  Childhood  Days  19 

CHAPTER  HI. 

Her  Four  Years  Among  The 

Feeble-Minded   39 

CHAPTER  IV. 

.She  Starts  Out  on  Her  Missionary 

Career    70 

CHAPTER  V. 

Her  First  Sermon  in  A  Lutheran 

State  Church    89 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Her  Way  of  "  Preaching"  in  the 

United  States 112 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Hkr  First  Iuve  Years  in  the 

United  States   142 

CHAPTER  \I1I. 

'I  111,  I  Iai'I'y  1'Inding 159 


CHAPTER  I. 
HER  GRANDMOTHER. 

Orust  is  the  name  of  Sweden's  greatest  island,, 
located  in  the  province  of  Bohuslan,  the  sea  of 
the  most  vigorous  Lutheranism.  The  island  in 
question  is  divided  into  parishes,  and  every  par- 
ish has  its  gray  or  whitwashed  church,  belonging 
to  the  State  Church,  w^ith  tower  and  church-bells, 
surrounded  by  a  graveyard.  In  every  well  order- 
ed parish  there  is  a  postoffice,  a  school  house,, 
and  one  or  two  'general  merchandise  stores. 
Every  parish  has  also  a  landed  proprietor,  some- 
times two,  who  divide  the  power  and  the  glory 
with  the  provost  of  the  parish.  Besides  these 
named,  the  schoolmaster,  the  postmaster  and  the 
merchants  belong  to  the  "  aristocracy  "  of  the 
community.  Perhaps  I  ought  to  add  the  informa- 
tion that  the  occupations  of  said  people  also  con- 
stitute their  titles.  If  for  instance  you  were  to 
address  a  letter  to  one  of  these  great  personages, 
it  would  not  be  advisable  to  forget  this  important 
thing.  To  write  simply,  "  Mr.  August  Berg  "  or 
"  Mr.  Erik  Jakobson  "  would  not  do.  It  must  be 
"  Mr.  Merchant  August  Berg  "  or  "  Mr.  School- 
master Erik  Jakobson  ". 

Outside   this   fashionable  society  life  of  the 
parish  we  have  the  common  people,  those  that 
work  for  starvation  wages  on  the  big  estates  of 
9 


10  AMERICA    THE    PROMISED   LAND. 

the  great  landowners.  They  are  called  cottagers, 
which  means  that  they  lease  a  small  house  and  a 
parcel  of  land  from  the  landlord,  and  in  rent 
for  this,  work  for  him  for  three  or  four  days  a 
week.  The  privileges  of  the  cottager  are  few 
indeed,  his  obligations  many,  and  his  outlooks 
for  the  future  none.  It  is  for  him  a  hopeless 
toiling  and  drudging  from  childhood,  and  few 
there  are,  who  at  a  ripe  age,  have  reached  the 
point  that  they,  as  a  reward  for  a  whole  lifetime 
of  slavery,  can  call  the  home  and  the  little  patch 
■of  ground  their  own.  Their  daily  fare  in  general 
is  potatoes  and  salt  herring,  which  is  eaten  raw, 
and  bread  of  the  coarsest  kind,  together  with 
coffee.  Yes,  the  writer  has  visited  homes  where 
Ihe  wages  of  the  whole  family  put  together  did 
not  suffice  even  to  pay  for  the  herring  and  the 
■coffee.  Then  they  had  to  use  only  salt  on  the 
potatoes,  and  roasted  oats  served  for  coffee.  Not 
to  be  wondered  at  therefore  if  America  seems  to 
the  younger  generation  as  a  golden  Canaan,  the 
promised  land  of  milk  and  honey.  And  if  you 
travel  among  the  Swedish-Americans  in  the 
northern,  eastern,  and  western  states  you  will 
find  that  the  majority  of  them  have  come  from 
that  class.  Being  used  to  hard  work  from  the 
old  country,  they  did  not  become  indifferent 
when  they  arrived  here ;  but  gladly  and  hopefully 
ihey  worked,  doing  their  best:  and  as  they  were 
reliable  and  came  from  a  hardv  and  industrious 


THE  DARK  SPOT  IN  SWEDEN.  II 

Stock,  it  did  not  take  long  before  they  made 
headway.  Usually  within  a  short  time  they 
earned  their  own  homes,  had  pianos  and  front 
porches,  and  were  just  as  independent  and  big  as 
their  former  lords  in  Sweden. 

However,  turning  back  to  Bohuslan,  I  must 
admit  that  among  all  the  Swedish  provinces  this 
particular  hotbed  for  Lutheranism  was  the  least 
beloved  and  most  often  looked  down  upon  as 
:  something  akin  to  an  uncivilized  heathen  field. 
The  missionaries  of  the  free  religious  element 
sometimes  love  to  dwell  upon  their  persecutions 
in  darkest  Bohuslan.  How  they  were  received 
with  mockery  and  derision.  How  they  were 
pelted  at  their  meetings  with  rotton  eggs,  dead 
rats  and  stones.  How  sometimes  they  were  whip- 
ped like  mischievous  boys  caught  out  on  mean 
pranks  instead  of  treated  as  the  messengers  of 
truth  and  peace.  How  it  was  an  almost  every 
-day  experience  with  them  in  their  going  from 
house  to  house  to  be  received  with  foul  abuse, 
and  often  how  they  had  to  retreat  faster  than 
wanted  in  order  to  escape  getting  a  pail  of  dish- 
water thrown  at  them  or  having  the  dogs  set  on 
their  heels.  How  in  many  houses  the  deck  of 
cards  and  the  whiskey  glasses  occupied  the  most 
prominent  place  on  the  table,  while  the  Bible  lay 
-dusty  and  forgotten  on  the  shelf  or  on  the  bottom 
of  the  trunk. 

In  this  province,  on  the  island  of  Orust,  we 


12  THE  LADY  OF  BORGHOLM. 

find  the  manor  of  Borgholm  in  the  Borghohn 
parish.  At  the  time  when  this  story  begins  the 
owner  had  died,  and  Mrs.  Britta,  his  widow  now 
ruled  in  a  wise  but  somewhat  autocratic  manner. 
I  will  not  here  engage  to  tell  of  her  power  and 
efficiency,  her  kindness  towards  the  working 
people,  her  piety  and  charitable  disposition. 
Enough  is  to  say  that  she  was  a  great  character 
and  an  exceptionally  pious  woman ;  respected  and 
loved  by  her  many  dependents,  and  well  known  in 
every  province  on  the  island  for  her  virtues  and 
good  deeds.  She  had  two  small  sons,  Frithiof 
and  Hjalmar.  Both  were  goldenhaired  and  blue- 
eyed,  and  gave  the  mother-heart  great  hopes ; 
but  not  a  long  time  after  the  father  had  left,  the 
angel  of  death  came  and  took  away  little  Hjal- 
mar. After  this  the  all  absorbing  love  of  Mrs. 
Britta  was  centered  on  Frithiof,  her  only  re- 
maining child.  With  her  nurse  girl,  the  young 
Anna,  Mrs.  Britta  often  spoke  quite  openly  as  to 
her  hopes  and  wishes  in  regard  to  the  son.  "1 
think  that  Frithiof  in  all  ]n-obabihty  will  be  a 
minister  of  the  gospel,"  she  repeated  fondly  over 
and  over  again,  "  Tt  is  one  of  my  most  pleasant 
day-dreams  that  either  he  or  a  child  of  his  be- 
comes a  messenger  of  (iod." 

At  length  the  day  arrived  when  l-'rilhiof  with 
great  honors  graduated  from  college,  and  was 
legalK  declared  of  age.  In  accordance  to  the 
last  will  of  his  father  he  now  became  the  owner 


THE  PRODIGAL  SON.  1 3 

of  the  family  estate  Hutten.  "  If  Hutten  were 
only  a  little  closer  to  Borgholm,"  he  said,  as  he 
bade  goodby  to  his  mother,  "How  will  I  ever  be 
able  to  get  along  so  far  away  from  my  own  dear 
mamma?"  He  looked  manly  and  full  of  life  as 
he  stood  before  the  mother,  with  the  hardearned 
college  cap  on  the  back  of  his  head.  "  God  bless 
and  keep  you,  my  son,"  Mrs  Britta  answered, 
"  remember  that  whether  home  or  away  you  are 
ever  in  my  heart  and  in  my  prayers:"  but  when 
she  said  this,  she  did  not  know  how  changed  he 
was  in  habits  of  living  and  thinking;  how  he, 
during  the  last  year  in  the  big  city  while  at  col- 
lege, had  greedily  embraced  the  so-called  "mod- 
ern lights ;  and  how  these  "  new  thoughts  "  and 
the  doctrine  of  "  free  love "  had  blinded  his 
sense  of  honor  and  ensnared  his  soul ;  how  wine, 
cigars,  and  loose  women  had  played  such  a  prom- 
inent part  in  his  life,  that  by  this  time  the  associa- 
tion with  his  pious  mother  was  for  him  not  only 
unwelcome  but  almost  unbearable.  No  wonder 
therefore,  that  deep  down  in  his  heart  he  felt 
quite  exalted  at  the  fact  that  there  would  be  a  con- 
siderable distance  between  the  two  family  estates. 
It  did  not  take  long,  however,  before  rumors  be- 
gan to  reach  the  mother's  ears  about  the  dissolute 
life  of  her  son.  More  and  more  openly  his  wild 
orgies  and  foolish  adventures  were  discussed,, 
and  at  the  same  time  his  letters  home  became 
fewer  and  colder  in  their  tone. 


3  4  A   BROKEN-HEARTED    MOTHER. 

Not  far  from  Hutten  was  the  beautiful  manor 
of  Gripsholm,  and  here  hved  the  only  sister  o£ 
]\Irs.  Britta,  the  imjierious  and  powerful  Mrs. 
Emma.  It  was  to  her  that  the  mother,  bowed 
down  and  crushed  in  spirit,  came  to  hnd  help 
and  advice.  There  had  come  to  her  many  sleep- 
less nights  and  days  full  of  bitter  sorrow  and 
tears.  "  Surely  it  must  be  most  important  things 
which  drive  you  to  come  such  a  long  way  as 
frail  as  you  look,"  her  brother-in-law  exclaimed 
as  he  helped  her  out  from  the  old  family  carriage. 
"  You  are  right,  it  is  important  indeed,"  she  re- 
plied somewhat  trembingly,  "  my  son's  life  and 
eternal  happiness  is  at  stake,  and  for  me,  there 
is  no  peace  until  I  can  see  his  face  again."  "  But 
Sister,  you  know  he  is  not  fit  to  be  seen  by  any- 
one, least  of  all  by  you,"  protested  Mrs.  Emma. 
"  ^^  hy,  of  course,  he  can  alwa}-s  be  seen  by  his 
own  mother,"  said  the  sister  bursting  into  tears, 
"  in  fact,  I  must  see  him.  You  will  realize  he  is 
my  only  son  and  my  all."  "  Veiy  well,  you  shall 
see  him  then,"  the  Baronet  hastened  to  assure 
her,  "only  you  (uight  to  rest  a  little  after  your 
long  and  tiresome  tri]i.  Then  in  the  afternoon 
we  will  take  you  to  Frithiof.  If  he  is  sober,  he 
will  surely  be  made  to  talk  to  you."  The  un- 
ccrtaint\'  and  restlessness  of  the  unhappy  mother 
could  not,  however,  be  endured  very  long,  and 
soon  the  two  sisters  were  on  their  way  to  the 
lluttcn  manor.     "  Let  me  go  in  lirst  and  speak  to 


THE    CHILD   IN    THE   COTTAGE.  I5 

the  boy,"  Mrs  Emma  said  beseechingly,  "  and 
meanwhile  you  can  visit  with  Anna,  his  old 
nurse."  "  What,  Anna,  my  old  faithful  maid, 
here?"  said  Mrs  Britta,  greatly  surprised.  "  Yes, 
she  is  married  to  one  of  P^rithiof's  subordinates," 
her  sister  explained,  "just  follow  the  forest  path 
and  you  will  easily  find  her  cottage.  There  is 
a  little  thing  in  her  home  which  I  want  you  to 
see." 

Squeezed  in  on  all  sides  by  gray  mountains 
lay  the  Vadstena  Cottage.  The  house  was  paint- 
ed red  and  looked  inviting  enough,  surrounded  as 
it  was  by  blooming  fruit  trees  and  fields  of  grain. 
Down  by  the  creek,  not  far  from  the  cottage,  a 
dark  featured  manly  little  chap  was  occupied 
with  the  carving  of  a  sailboat.  At  his  side  tod- 
dled a  three  year  old  girl,  golden-haired  and  blue- 
eyed.  As  if  nailed  to  the  ground,  Mrs.  Britta 
stood  for  a  long  while,  looking  down  on  the  two 
children.  "  Very  likely  they  belong  to  Anna," 
she  assured  herself,  "  but  the  girl  looks  exactly 
like  Frithiof  at  the  same  age — his  very  picture." 
*'  The  Baroness  here !"  exclaimed  a  voice  beside 
her.  "Anna,  tell  me,  who's  child  is  this  girl?" 
the  lady  asked  without  taking  her  eyes  oft"  the 
child.  "  It  is  Bertha-Charlotta,  the  daughter  of 
the  Baron,"  Anna  said  simply  and  without 
evasion,  "I  have  cared  for  her  ever  since  she  was 
born.  In  fact  she  was  born  in  my  cottage." 
"And  who   is  her  mother?"   Mrs   Britta  asked 


i6  THE    DEDICATION    OF    BERTHA. 

slowly.  "  Martina,  his  old  playmate  and  present 
housekeeper."  With  a  face  pale  from  pain  and 
emotion,  the  proud  Mrs.  Britta  kneeled  at  the 
side  of  her  granddaughter,  taking  the  little  one 
up  in  her  arms.  "  God  bless  you,  Bertha-Char- 
lotta,  and  make  you  a  blessing,"  she  said  with  a 
suppressed  sob  in  her  voice,  "  may  all  the  good 
and  beautiful  things  for  which  I  have  prayed 
for  your  father  come  to  your  life  instead.  May 
you  in  all  the  days  of  your  life  walk  in  the  road 
of  righteousness  and  truth  ;  and  above  all  may  you 
be  sa^■ed  from  the  mortal  sin  of  being  a  Judas 
to  your  best  friend,  betraying  the  one  who  loves 
you  most."  As  she  uttered  these  words,  the  color 
rose  in  her  face  and  the  voice  rang  clearer  and 
stronger,  and  became  almost  prophetic  as  she 
added,  "  May  the  virtues  which  T  hoped  to  find 
in  l-'rithiof,  the  love  and  faith  which  conquers 
<ieath,  and  honesty  and  truthfulness,  the  traits  I 
value  highest  of  all,  be  the  most  prominent  in 
your  life."  With  a  smile  she  then  arose  and 
j)laced  the  child  in  Anna's  arms.  "  Love  her  as 
_\ou  love  your  own  little  boy,"  she  said,  "  her 
share  of  father's  and  mother's  love  will  be 
jjiteously  small.  We  must  therefore  give  her 
double  as  much  of  our  own  lo\e  and  attention." 
Tears  shone  in  the  eyes  of  her  faithful  servant. 
"I  be  r.;iroiR'^s  knows  full  well  that  I  will  do  my 
])cst  for  the  little  oiu',"  she  said. 

A    t'cw    moim-nlN  later  I\'Trs.   I'ritta  stood  out- 


PARTED^  NEVER  TO  MEET  AGAIN.       I7 

side  the  mansion,  and  her  sister  came  down  the 
steps  to  meet  her.  "  Frithiof  is  only  half  sober 
and  it  is  impossible  to  talk  to  him,"  she  said 
compassionately,  "  it  really  would  be  far  better 
lor  yon  to  return  home,  and  then  come  back 
some  other  day,  when  he  is  more  ht  to  receive 
you."  She  stopped  suddenly  and  gazed  with  sur- 
prise on  her  sister,  noting  her  strange,  tense  look 
and  manner.  "  I  think  it  is  just  as  well  that  I 
should  see  him  now,"  she  said  perfectly  calm  and 
unconcerned,  "  it  might  happen,  you  know,  that 
I  would  never  get  the  time  to  come  here  again." 
In  the  big  drawing  room  where  they  were  re- 
ceived by  the  young  man,  there  was  a  strong 
odor  of  wine  and  tobacco,  and  his  greeting  was 
accompanied  with  oaths  and  abusive  epiteths. 
"  No  sermons,  I  beg  of  you,"  were  his  hrst 
words,  "  for  here  I  am  master  and  do  just  as  I 
please."  Made  to  feel  how  very  unwelcome  they 
were,  their  visit  was  cut  short."  There  is  only 
one  thing  I  would  like  to  know,"  the  mother  said 
in  parting,  "where  is  your  confirmation  Bible?" 
"  Will  be  glad  to  accomodate  you,"  he  said  with 
a  cruel  laugh,  "it  has  always  been  in  the  bottom 
of  my  trunk.  It  is  still  there."  Then  without  a 
further  word  she  entered  the  carriage,  ordering 
the  coachman  to  drive  home.  W  hen  she  arrived 
at  Borgholm  it  was  quite  late  in  the  afternoon: 
and  as  the  maid  was  taking  from  her  her  hat 
and  cloak,  she  reeled  suddenly,  and  would  have 


l8  O,    WHERE   IS   MY   BOY   TONIGHT. 

fallen  if  the  girl  had  not  been  strong  enough  to 
hold  her  up.  In  answer  to  the  girl's  cry,  the 
other  servants  came  running  in,  and  with  loving 
hands  Mrs.  Britta  was  laid  on  a  sofa.  After  a 
few  minutes  she  looked  up  and  there  came  over 
her  face  a  radiance  of  surpassing  peace  and 
heavenly  happiness.  "  Our  Father  which  art  in 
hea\en,  hallowed  be  Thy  name,  Th}'  kingdom 
come,  Thy  will  be  done,"  she  whispered  with  a 
transfigured  face  and  folded  hands,  and  as  she 
came  to  the  last  words  in  the  Lord's  prayer,  "  for 
Thine  is  the  kingdom,  and  the  power,  and  the 
gloiy  forever/'  her  soul  went  home  to  God.  No 
one  did  vmderstand  what  the  son  felt  or  thought 
because  of  the  sudden  departure  of  his  mother. 
He  seemed  thereafter  to  become  more  and  more 
hardened,  sinking  deei>er  and  deeper  into  the 
mire  of  sin  and  \ice. 

"  Where  is  my  wandering  boy  tonight — 

The  boy  of   my   tenderest  care, 
The  boy  that  was  once  my  joy  and  light, 

The  child  of  my  love  and  prayer? 
Once  he  was  pure  as  morning  dew, 

As  he  knelt  at  his  mother's  knee ; 
No  face  was  so  bright,  no  heart  more  true, 

And  none  was  so  sweet  as  he. 

O,  where  is  my  boy  tonight? 

My  heart  overflows,  for  I  love  him  he  knows, 

O,   where  is  my  brn-  tonight?" 


CHAPER  II. 
HER  CHILDHOOD  DAYS. 

The  read-painted  cottage  down  in  the  valley 
really  looked  somewhat  old,  but  the  surroundings 
were  much  prettier.  You  should  have  been  there 
a  beautiful  morning  in  May  about  twent}'-seven 
years  ago  and  seen  what  I  saw  down  there  in 
the  valley.  You  should  have  seen  the  well  ke\>\., 
small  tields  and  the  newly  budded,  sweet  smelling 
birches.  You  would  have  fallen  perfectly  ui 
love  with  the  abundance  of  rich  colors  and  above 
all  the  fragrance. 

Perhaps  the  reader  like  the  writer  has  had  the 
privilege  of  having  seen  the  glory  of  such  p;na- 
disical  places  as  Southern  Switzerland,  Southern 
California,  Southern  Arizona,  Southern  Texas, 
and  Southern  Florida,  the  glorious  spots  of 
palms  and  roses:  but  even  so,  you  would  have 
been  compelled  to  admire  if  you  had  beheld  die 
flower-covering  of  my  little  valley  between  the 
gray,  mossy  mountains.  Yes,  here  between  mas- 
sive granite  mountains  and  thick  fir  forests  it  \\  as 
that  Bertha  was  born  and  lived  three  years  of  her 
early  life.  True,  her  first  home  was  only  a  cot- 
tager's small  house,  and  her  fostermother, 
"  Auntie  Anna,"  had  in  her  younger  days  been 
nurse  girl  at  the  manor  Borgholm.  Yet,  on  the 
somewhat  stormtossed  heaven  of  her  childhood, 
19 


20  THE    FAITHFUL    AUNTIE    ANNA. 

old  and  faithful  Auntie  Anna  was  the  brightest 
shining   star    ....    a    real   mother   could   never 
have   been    kinder.      The   }oung   master    at    the 
mansion  had  always  been  the  very  apple  of  her 
eye,  and  when  he  confided  his  daughter  to  her 
care  it  became  a  most  natural  thing  for  her  to 
transfer  a  part  of  that  love  to  the  little  one.   But, 
oh,  how  it  grieved  the  good  woman  to  see  her 
beloved  Baron,  goodhearted  and  gifted  as  he  was, 
tread  the  path  to  eternal  destruction.     Had  not 
his   mother   borne   the    reputation   of   being   the 
most  God-fearing  lady  on  the  whole  island?  and 
now  their  Frithiof,  the  only  son,   full  of  those 
new  ideas  of  atheism  and  free  love,  a   worthy 
l^upil  of  \'oltaire  and  I*211en  Key.    Yes,  what  was 
more,  wlien  the  noble  and  lovable  mother  pointed 
out  to  him  his  \'icious  mode  of  living,  and  that 
the  wages  of  sin  is  death,  hadn't  he  with  biting 
satire  and  much  j^rofanity  told  her,   that   there 
was  no  God  or  heaven  or  hell :  and  hadn't  she, 
the  well-beloved  Baroness,  through  the  terrible 
mental  strain  been  felled  by  a  stroke  of  apoplexy 
and  died  without  being  reconciled  to  her  erring- 
son.       Poor,    tenderhearted    Anna    could    hardly 
bear  the  thought  of  it  all.     Yet,  all  the  more  she 
loved  his  child,  treating  it  as  she  would  ha\e  done 
had  she  been  a  nurse  at  the  mansion. 

When  P)ertha  was  about  three  years  old,  her 
golden  yellow  hair,  her  blue  eyes  and  tilted  nose 
presented  such  a  striking  likeness  to  the  haughty 


THE    NEW    FOSTER-PARENTS.  21 

father  that  he  could  not  stand  the  sight  of  her 
on  the  territory  of  the  manor;  and  thus  it  came 
to  pass  that  Anna  one  day  found  herself  com- 
pelled to  turn  her  little  darling  over  to  other 
fosterparents.  Luckily  enough,  Captain  Soder- 
berg  was  a  good  and  kind  man,  and  his  wife  was 
warmhearted  and  fond  of  children.  They  were 
childless  themselves,  had  an  elegant  home  just 
inside  the  limits  of  a  certain  city,  and  were  more 
than  glad  to  appear  like  a  shining  twin-star  in 
the  life  of  a  little  girl.  Unhappily,  however,  this 
particular  little  girl  had  a  temper,  an  inheritance 
from  her  father — she  being  in  everything  her 
father's  daughter:  and  already  the  first  day  in 
the  new  home,  just  as  Auntie  Anna  was  pre- 
paring to  bid  her  goodby,  she  began  to  show  the 
fact  that  she  had  a  will  of  her  own,  a  veiy  de- 
cided one  at  that.  The  old  nurse  had  barely 
gotten  outside  the  door,  with  one  finger  in  each 
ear  she  couldn't  hear,  when  the  child  threw 
herself  on  the  floor,  kicking  and  screaming  with 
all  her  might,  "  I  want  my  Anna,  I  want  to  go 

home,    home,     ho .  .  .  ome ho .  . .  ome"  —  but 

after  a  whipping,  the  first  one  in  her  young  life, 
she  consented  to  calm  down,  and  soon  felt  at 
home,  quite  satisfied  with  her  new  mamma  and 
papa. 

Captain  Soderberg  now^  took  upon  himself  to 
teach  her  the  gentle  art  of  reading  and  writing, 
and  succeeded  in  this  surprisingly  well.     It  came 


22.  AN  UNEXPECTED  VISITOR. 

harder  for  his  wife  to  teach  the  Httle  heathen 
some  simple  fancy  work.  It  never  happened  that 
she  as  a  reward  earned  a  single  cookie  or  a  piece 
of  chocolate  on  account  of  any  sewing  or  knitting, 
or  an}'  other  kind  of  housework :  and  never  was 
Mrs.  Soderberg  rewarded  with  anything  either. 
Indeed,  for  all  her  dutiful  and  wellmeaning  at- 
tempts to  teach  such  good  and  tine  things  she 
got  nothing  but  scowls  and  tears  and  utter  lamen- 
tations. The  captain  on  the  other  hand  always 
had  a  willing  and  happy  pupil  whenever  it  came 
to  writing  and  reading.  In  fact  she  was  con- 
sidered as  quite  a  wonderchild  in  this  direction. 
When  Bertha  was  four  years  old,  Auntie  Anna 
came  on  a  visit,  and  what  was  more  she  had  with 
her  another  woman,  a  most  unexpected  visitor. 
'I'he  stranger  was  a  stately,  dark  complexioned 
woman,  with  hard,  embittered  features.  Bertha, 
to  be  sure,  was  her  child,  her  own  flesh  and 
blood,  but  she  had  never  before  seen  the  girl, 
never  held  her  in  her  arms :  and  it  was  only  in 
order  to  ])lease  the  insistent  .\nna  as  she  had 
come  along,  wholl}-  against  her  own  inclinations. 
Mrs.  Soderberg  anxious  to  show  ofif  what  a 
miracle  in  reading  tlie  girl  iiad  become  told  the 
little  one  to  read  a  chaiUer  from  the  New  Testa- 
ment. The  tall  silent  stranger  seemed  ])ainfully 
lonilu'il  wlicn  slic  saw  the  llible  in  the  hands  nt 
her  daughter,  and  she  made  a  motion  as  if  in- 
Icndint:  to  rise  and  take  her  lea\o,  bnl  Anna  held 


LOVE  NEVER  FAILETlf.  23 

her  back.  "Love  suffereth  long,  and  is  kind, 
love  envieth  not,  love  vaunteth  not  itself,  is  not 
puffed  up,  doth  not  behave  itself  unseemingly, 
seeketh  not  her  own,  is  not  easily  provoked, 
thinketh  no  evil ;  rejoiceth  not  in  iniquity,  but 
rejoiceth  in  the  truth ;  beareth  all  things,  be- 
lieveth  all  things,  hopeth  all  things,  endureth  all 
things.  Lo\e  never  faileth."  The  girl  though 
too  small  to  read  the  words  plainly  kept  on  \vith- 
out  stumbling  through  the  whole  chapter,  and 
finally  came  to  the  last  verse,,  "  And  now  abideth 
faith,  hope,  love,  these  three;  but  the  greatest  of 
these  is  LOVE."  It  seemed  to  give  to  this  mother 
without  love  something  like  a  torture  to  sit  and 
listen  as  the  child  read  the  chapter  of  faith  and 
hope  and  love.  "  We  must  go  now,"  she  said 
Avith  difficulty.  "  Surely  you  are  going  to  kiss  the 
girl  before  you  go,"  said  Anna,  the  insistent, 
"  this  may  be  both  the  first  and  the  last  time." 
There  came  something  like  a  tear  in  the  black 
e}'es  of  the  unnatural  mother  as  she  bent  down, 
kissing  the  forehead  of  her  little  daughter.  "  Per- 
haps I  am  doing  wrong  in  leaving  her  like  this  '" 
she  said  wistfully.  "  No,  no,  she  has  a  better 
home  and  future  where  she  is,"  Anna  reassured 
her  quietly.  "  That's  true,"  the  mother  said  with 
a  sigh,  "  I  can  not  bring  her  up  in  the  godless 
surroundings  where  I  live."  Then  as  if  ashamed 
of  herself,  she  left  with  hurrying  steps  the  place 


24  THE    SUNDAY    SPECIAL. 

which  had  witnessed  the  first  and  last  glimpse 
of  her  motherheart. 

In  the  well  equipped  editorial  suite  the  two 
brothers  Per  and  Jonathan  were  sitting.  The 
first  named  was  a  tall,  thin  man  with  features 
betokening  a  good  character.  He  was  editor-  in- 
chief  and  business  manager  of  the  most  promi- 
nent religious  paper  in  Sweden  and  besides  en- 
joyed a  well-earned  recognition  in  literary  circles. 
The  younger  brother,  Jonathan,  was  associate 
editor  and  had  general  charge  of  the  political  de- 
partment. He  as  a  rule  wrote  the  leading  article 
of  the  day,  and  besides  was  sole  editor  of  the 
.Sunday  Special.  It  was  not  disputed  that  Jona- 
than was  a  good  journalist,  and  in  some  fields  a 
livelier  and  better  writer  than  the  elder  brother, 
l)ut  he  lacked  his  brother's  fine,  Christian  princi- 
])les  and  sterling  character.  Even  in  outward 
matters  he  was  a  complete  contrast  to  his  brother, 
his  somewhat  stout,  set  figure  giving  him  the 
api)earance  of  the  jolly,  happy-go-lucky  kind. 
"  I  can  not  make  myself  like  the  way  you  edit  the 
.Sundav  su])])lement,"  the  editor-in-chief  com- 
])laine(l  somewliat  im])aticntly.  "it  looks  to  me  a.s 
mostly  cli])pings,  and  not  only  lliat,  but  old  worn 
out  stories  which  most  ever^bod)'  has  read  be- 
fore." "  True,  but  what  can  T  do  with  the  ma- 
lcri;il  I  li;i\e,"  b'liathan  answered  with  a  shrug- 
ging of  his  shoulders,  "of  course  nianuscri])ts  are 


THE   YOUNG   AUTHORESS.  2^, 

pouring  down  every  day,  but  needless  to  say 
most  of  them  are  not  even  worth  the  ink,  and 
the  scribblers  \vho  are  any  earthly  good  at  all 
demand  compensation ;  but  time  and  again  }ou 
have  told  me  that  you  will  not  pay  any  honora- 
rium for  contributions  to  the  Sunday  supplement- 
So,  there  we  are."  "  Surely  you  can  not  expect 
me  to  pay  as  much  for  fiction  as  we  do  for 
articles  on  burning,  all-important  questions  of  the 
day,"  Per  protested  with  a  little  show  of  heat, 
"  still,  I  suppose  we  could  afford  to  pay  a  few 
crowns  for  a  real  good,  original  story  if  that  is 
what  you  want."  "  Well,  that  is  something  at 
least,"  the  younger  brother  admitted,  "  then  per- 
haps you  will  tell  the  cashier  to  pay  a  live-crown- 
bill  or  two  to  one  of  my  most  industrious  and 
worthy  authoresses?"  "Authoress,"  the  elder 
brother  repeated  a  little  suspiciously,  "  who  is 
she?  a  new  love-affair?"  "  Call  it  whatever  you 
please,"  Jonathan  said  in  perfect  good  humor, 
"  she  is  a  fine  friend  of  mine  and  a  splendid 
little  writer."  Besides  she  is  a  head-nurse  in  the 
Hospital,  using  her  leisure  time  to  work  for  us. 
Her  stories  are  taken  from  real  life  and  are  of 
a  strictly  religious  nature.  In  fact  all  that  you 
can  wish  for  in  that  direction."  The  brother 
seemed  interested,  "  How  did.  you  get  hold  of 
her?"  he  inquired.  "That  was  easy  enough," 
Jonathan  said,  "  she  sent  her  manuscripts  to  me, 
and  as  it  was  not  hard  to  understand  that  the 


^6  A    REAL    LIFE-STORY. 

Stories  came  out  of  her  own  experiences,  I  be- 
came interested.  Thus  it  happened  that  I  asked 
her  for  an  interview.  I  knew  that  she  was  on 
night  duty  and  could  use  part  of  the  day  for  her 
own  affairs.  Anyhow  our  good  mother  invited 
her  home,  and  from  that  day  on  w^e  have  seen 
each  other  quite  frequently.  Now,  on  my  re- 
quest, she  has  written  a  story  from  her  childhood 
days,  and  as  every  line  is  from  real  life,  you  may 
care  to  read  it."  "  Very  well,"  consented  the 
editor-in-chief,  "only  I  want  you  to  read  it  to  me 
while  I  am  eating  my  breakfast.  The  boy  from 
the  restaurant  is  just  coming  with  the  tray,  and 
I  am  sure  you  have  had  yours  already  at  home 
with  mother." 

"THE  REFUGE  OF  THE  HOMELESS, 
written  for  the  Sunday  supplement  by  Bertha- 
.  Charlotta,"  the  editor  began  his  reading  from 
the  manuscript.  "  When  my  father  and  my 
mother  forsake  me,  then  the  Lord  will  take  me 
up."  (Psalm  27:10.)  The  individual  make-up  of 
a  person  and  the  circumstances  of  one's  life 
generally  give  indication  to  which  calling  one  is 
best  suited;  and  if  I  should  make  an  effort  to 
find  out  what  my  particular  mission  in  life  is,  I 
ihink  it  would  be  quite  an  easy  matter  to  decide. 
Perhaps,  if  you  follow  mc  a  little  while,  some  of 
you  will  in  the  same  way  be  able  to  figure  out 
what  the  will  of  God  is  in  your  case.  Of  course, 
in  (he  beginning  oi  my  young  career,  when  my 


YEA,   THEY    MAY    FORGET.  2J 

powers  of  reflecting  on  things  were  developing, 
1  did  not  see  the  path  which  was  before  me  as 
clearly  as  I  do  now.  The  reason  for  this  was 
really  that  I  felt  so  hopelessly  alone  and  kind  of 
suspected  that  I  was  in  a  somewhat  haphazard 
way  thrown  out  in  a  cold,  heartless  world.  I 
had  never,  as  have  the  most  of  you,  lived  vmder 
the  protection  of  a  real  home  with  a  faithful 
mother  and  a  kind  father ;  but  slowly,  as  the  feel- 
ing of  being  forsaken  took  a  stronghold  of  me, 
my  heart  began  also  to  grope  for  a  fostress:  and 
who  in  such  cases  is  a  better  refuge  than  He, 
who  has  said,  "  Can  a  woman  forget  her  child 
....  yea,  thiey  may  forget,  yet  will  I  not  forget 
thee."  Thus  it  came  to  pass,  that  the  conscious- 
ness of  immortality  in  my  soul  found  its  divine 
orgin  to  be  like  an  infinite  ocean  of  fatherly  love. 
Then  more  and  more  unresei'vedly  I  laid  down 
my  many  perplexing  problems  and  trials,  secure 
in  the  assurance  that  my  heavenly  Father  knew 
about  it  all  and  was  perfectly  able  and  willing  to 
help  me  out.  Particularly  I  remember  two 
miraculous  answers  to  prayers,  which  will  always 
be  connected  with  my  earliest  memories ;  but, 
maybe  T  should  not  use  the  word,  "  miraculous." 
You  see  it  is  NATURAL  and  in  accordance  with 
divine  law  for  God  to  come  to  the  help  of  His 
children.  It  would  indeed  be  miraculous  if  He 
did  not.  My  fosterparents  lived  in  a  city  in  the 
province   of   Bohuslan,   and   they   had   over   the 


25  BEGINNING  AN  ADVENTURE. 

summer  left  me  in  the  care  of  a  kind  cottager  on 
my  father's  estate.  The  wife,  "  Auntie  Anna," 
had  first  been  my  father's  nurse  and  later  on 
mine,  and  there  was  no  doubt  that  she  would  do 
her  best  to  give  the  little  city  girl  as  pleasant  a 
summer  visit  as  possible.  It  did  not,  however, 
please  my  father  to  have  me  so  near  him  and 
thereby  risk  that  I,  poor  unwelcome  child,  should 
come  in  his  way.  Was  it  not  enough  that  he 
paid  for  my  education  and  provided  me  with  a 
good  home  in  the  city,  but  should  he  also  be 
obliged  to  endure  the  sight  of  me?  It  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at  that  his  hot  temper  boiled  over, 
and  that  he  at  once  started  to  plan  how  he  could 
get  rid  of  this  unpardonable  nuisance.  Conse- 
quently the  very  first  morning  after  my  arrival 
in  the  country  he  sent  the  manager  of  his  estate 
to  me  and  asked  if  I  would  not  enjoy  a  little  trip 
through  the  beautiful  roads  of  the  forest.  Of 
■course,  I  was  glad  for  the  chance  to  ride,  and  my 
happiness  was  without  bounds,  when  the  kind 
man  also  gave  me  a  little  kitty  as  a  companion  on 
.the  trip :  and  so,  perfectly  contented,  kitty  and  T, 
Ave  started  out  in  the  great  comfortable  carriage 
drawn  by  two  prancing  white  horses.  Though 
to  begin  with,  the  trip  was  very  pleasant,  it  seem- 
ed to  me  after  a  few  hours  that  it  looked  longer 
ihnn  a  journey  like  that  ought  to  do.  And  as 
kitty  was  becoming  quite  restless  T  ventured  to 
ask  in  a  cautious  way,  if  it  might  not  be  time  to 


SHE   IS   KIDNAPPED.  29 

turn  and  go  back.  "  Oh,  no,  my  little  lady,  not 
_yet,"  the  man  smiled  reassuredly,  "  we  must  first 
of  all  go  somewhere  to  get  a  bite  to  eat.  A  good 
friend  of  mine  is  living  near  here,  and  we  had 
better  make  her  a  visit  while  we  are  so  close  by 
as  this."  Later  on  in  the  afternoon  we  came  to 
a  road  that  seemed  to  get  very  narrow,  and  after 
having  tied  the  horses  to  a  tree  we  went  along 
a  path  which  took  us  to  a  small  gray  cottage.  To 
put  it  mildly,  there  was  not  much  to  that  little 
hut.  One  could  almost  expect  it  to  tumble  down 
any  minute :  and  sorry  to  say,  the  old  woman, 
the  owner,  who  came  to  the  door  to  let  us  in 
was  in  no  way  an  improvement  on  the  landscape. 
Cold  shivers  went  down  my  spine  as  I  beheld 
this  monster  of  ugliness,  and  in  my  somewhat 
vivid  imagination  I  saw  her  as  an  old  witch, 
transporting  herself  through  the  air  on  a  broom- 
stick. While  the  cofifee  pot  was  on  the  fire  in 
the  open  hearth  and  the  old  woman  looked  her 
Tcindliest,  the  driver  said  that  although  he  was 
very  thirsty  for  a  cup  of  coffee,  he  would  first 
go  and  look  after  the  horses.  Who  could  tell 
what  those  young  horses  would  do  when  left 
alone,  perhaps  get  tangled  up  in  the  reins  or  tear 
themselves  loose  and  run  away.  Such  things 
could  very  easily  happen,  and  then  we  would 
have  to  zvalk  home;  and  something  must  have 
happened,  because  the  man  did  not  come  back.  I 
waited  one  hour,  and  I  waited  two,  but  the  man 


50  A    .\KR\ERACKIXG    EXPERIENCE. 

ne\ei-  returned.  He  may  still  for  all  I  know  be 
roaming  around  in  the  great  woods,  searching 
for  his  horses.  It  was,  however,  quite  a  wonder 
that  my  nine  years  old  brain  did  not  turn  in  the 
insane  fear  that  got  hold  of  me,  when  I  found 
myself  left  in  the  care  and  keeping  of  the  old 
'■  witch."  It  must  have  been  for  that  mission 
in  life,  of  which  I  will  speak  further  on,  that 
God  designed  to  save  me. 

That  night  I  cried  myself  to  sleep,  and  the 
following  morning,  before  I  had  time  to  make 
my  impressions  clear,  the  old  woman  took  me 
with  her  out  in  the  woods  to  pick  berries  for 
breakfast. 

Of  course,  the  whole  thing  was  a  little  differ- 
ent from  what  I  was  accustomed  to  in  the  elegant 
and  orderly  home  of  my  fostei-parents ;  and  it 
surely  may  be  forgiven  me  that  this  morning  in 
question,  I  started  cning  afresh,  while  kitty  at 
my  side  acted  just  as  distressed  as  I,  mewing 
piteously.  This  little  duetto,  however  did  not 
seem  to  be  greatly  appreciated  by  the  woman. 
Indeed  her  patience  must  have  been  tried  beyond 
endurance  for  I  observed  a  somewhat  threatening- 
jerk  in  her  sooty  fist.  Scared  as  I  was  I  stopped 
the  music  just  as  the  old  woman  without  any 
seeming  reason  dealt  her  only  daughter  the  blow 
which  from  the  start  was  aimed  at  poor  me.  My 
fear  had  now  reached  its  highest  point  and  with- 
out further  warning  I  set  up  as  loud  a  scream 


A   PRESENT  HELP  IN  TROUBLE.  3 1 

as  my  lungs  permitted.  "  You  miserable  brat, 
keep  quiet!"  the  woman  hissed  wrathfully,  "I 
might  as  well  drown  you  in  the  creek  first  as 
last."  "Oh,  no  you  better  wait  a  while,"  the 
daughter  advised  sullenly,  "  Who  knows  if  the 
gentleman  at  the  manor  cares  to  pay  after  the 
deed  is  done."  "  Yes,  you  are  right,"  the  elder 
woman  admitted  grudgingly,  "  he  will  have  to 
turn  over  some  more  money  before  we  go  to  any 
further  trouble."  After  having  listened  to  this 
a  little  too  openhearted  family  discussion,  I  felt 
justified  in  resuming  my  howling  with  renewed 
vigor.  At  this  the  old  matron,  losing  her  pa- 
tience completely,  grabbed  me  by  the  nape  of  the 
neck,  throwing  me  into  a  small,  dirty  clothes 
closet;  and  here  it  was  that  I  remembered  that  I 
could  not  ver\'  well  be  in  a  worse  predicament 
than  that  my  heavenly  Father  knew  of  it,  and 
consequently  would  be  quite  willing  and  able  to 
help  me  out.  Calmed  by  this  growing  feeling  of 
protection,  I  went  down  on  my  knees  asking  my 
Father  to  come  as  quickly  as  possible  with  the 
needed  help.  Then  greatly  consoled,  I  laid  my- 
self down  on  the  hard  floor  with  the  thought  of 
sleeping  away  the  time  that  would  elapse  before 
the  one  that  was  to  get  me  out  of  that  awful 
place  would  arrive :  and  Father,  knowing  as  al- 
ways what  was  needed,  sent  me  a  most  merciful 
sleep.  This  was  early  in  the  morning,  and  I  slept 
peacefully  on  until  late  in  the  afternoon.     Then 


2,2  HER  PRAYER  IS  ANSWERED. 

I  was  awakened  b}-  kind  friends,  who  laughing 
and  cning  for  relief  that  God  had  not  permitted 
them  to  come  too  late,  took  me  up  in  their  arms, 
while  kitt}'  stood  by,  i)urring  happily. 

One  of  these  messengers  of  God  was  the 
Baroness  of  Gripsholm,  the  sister  of  my  late 
grandmother,  the  other  was  old,  faithful  Auntie 
Anna.  The  latter  had,  through  the  intervening 
hand  of  my  Heavenly  Father,  been  informed  as 
to  the  meaning  of  my  kidnapping,  and  with  her 
honest  heart  filled  with  horror  and  dread  she  had 
walked  afoot  the  whole  night  in  order  to  reach 
the  manor  of  Gripholm  for  help  and  advice.  The 
lady  of  the  manor  was  in  many  respects  like  her 
sister,  the  pious  mother  of  my  father,  and  shone 
all  through  my  childhood  as  one  of  the  brightest 
and  kindliest  stars.  With  her  usual  determina- 
tion she  now  made  up  her  mind  at  once,  and  be- 
fore morning  dawn  they  were  already  on  the 
way  in  their  long  search  for  me;  and  thus  it 
came  to  pass  that  late  the  following  afternoon  I 
was  once  more  on  the  road,  but  this  time  to 
meet  a  brighter  spot  than  the  somewhat  queer 
id\l  in  the  woods.  In  triumph  and  great  rejoic- 
ing I  was  now  taken  to  the  beautiful  manor  of 
Gripsholm,  and  here  I  was  permitted  to  remain 
a  few  weeks  until  T  had  recovered  from  the  ter- 
rible nerve  shock  I  had  gone  througii.  To  let 
me  return  to  Auntie  Anna  was  out  of  ([uestion, 
to   send    nic   back    to   my    f()slerj)arcnts   was   still 


THE    THREE    OLD    MAIDS.  35. 

worse  as  there  raged  a  great  controversy  between 
them  and  ni}-  lordly  father  concerning  my  up- 
bringing; and  to  risk  my  father's  chagrin  and 
anger  should  he  find  out  about  my  stay  at  the 
manor  of  Gripsholm  was  far  from  advisable. 
After  careful  consideration  it  was  finally  decided 
lo  hide  me  away  with  an  old  maid  far  out  among, 
the  many  small  isles  along  the  coast.  My  new 
"  auntie  "  who  was  seventy  years  of  age,  made 
her  living  by  keeping  two  boarders  from  the 
mainland,  one  was  ninety  years  old  and  the  other 
eighty.  Between  these  old  girls  my  young  life 
was  made  pretty  nigh  unendurable.  They  were- 
insistent,  oh,  yes  very  much  so,  that  I  should  be 
quiet,  and  they  saw  to  it  that  no  bad  tendencies 
cropped  out  in  me.  Luckily  enough,  I  was  a 
quiet  child,  who  did  not  wish  for  anything  better 
than  to  be  let  alone,  sitting  in  a  corner  with  my 
books.  And  when  I  was  through  with  my  books,, 
I  always  took  great  comfort  in  a  stumpy  lead 
pencil,  for  you  must  know,  I  was  already  then 
not  only  authoress  but  editor  as  well.  It  is  true 
no  printer's  ink  had  as  yet  been  bestowed  on  my 
literary  creations,  but  neither  had  any  merciless- 
critic  slashed  my  dreams  to  pieces. 

In  the  late  summer  evenings.  Aunt  Tilda,  as 
I  called  her,  was  wont  to  tell  me  sagas   (myths 
and  heroic  tales  of  the  ancient  Scandinavians) 
so  as  to  hinder  me  from  straining  my  eyes  in  the 
dim  light.     Soon,  however,  I  found  that  her  train 


^4  O^'  THE  LIGHT-HOUSE-ISLAND. 

-of  thoughts  were  somewhat  mixed  up.  When  I 
asked  her  brother,  the  hght-house-keeper  on  our 
little  island,  about  this  I  was  told  that  only  a  few 
3'ears  ago  she  had  suffered  from  insanity ;  and 
after  that  I  had  caught  her  over  and  over  again 
uttering  half-crazy  words  and  acting  in  a  queer 
way,  I  became  not  a  little  frightened.  One  night, 
for  instance,  when  during  the  day  I  had  happen- 
ed to  break  a  cup,  I  was  awakened  by  her  stand- 
ing at  my  bedside  with  a  big  switch  of  birch  in 
her  hand.  7'his  particular  switch  I  had  time  and 
again  noticed  in  its  proper  place  behind  the 
hearth,  but  it  had  never  before  hovered  quite  as 
near.  Somewhat  stunned  in  the  beginning  I  suc- 
ceeded linally  to  recover  my  power  of  speech, 
demanding  to  know  what  it  was  all  about.  "  Oh, 
I  beg  your  pardon,"  said  kind  "  Auntie  Tilda  " 
•greatly  embarrassed  and  distressed,  "  I  am  sure 
it  is  not  my  intention  to  whip  you  while  }-ou  are 
awake.  Yet,  I  am  perfectly  assured  that  you 
were  careless  with  (hat  cup  and  that  it  is  my 
duty  to  chastise  you  accordingly ;  but  loving  you 
as  I  do  I  could  not  very  well  hurt  you  except 
when  you  are  asleep."  After  this  nightly  episode 
I  felt  more  frightened  than  ever,  especially  as 
the  two  other  boarders  were  helpless  and  from 
age  and  sickness  confined  to  their  beds.  Then  it 
was  that  I  in  real  earnest  started  to  remind  my 
heavenly  Father  about  these  new  troubles  of 
mine.      Consequently   I   began   soon   to    feel   re- 


THE  INTERVENING  HAND.  35. 

assured  and  expectant  knowing  by  experience 
that  I  would  not  have  to  wait  long  for  an  answer. 
Only  a  few  days  later,  in  accordance  with  my 
expectation,  I  received  a  message  from  my 
foster-parents.  They  wrote  that  they  could  not 
be  without  me  any  longer,  and  even  if  my  father 
should  become  angry,  I  must  return  to  the  city 
by  the  next  boat.  Well  I  remember  how  poor 
Auntie  Tilda  went  with  me  to  the  little  steamer,. 
"  King  Rane,"  and  with  tears  in  her  eyes  bade 
me  farewell.  A  few  days  later  her  insanity 
broke  loose  again  in  all  its  violence,  and  with  an 
axe  she  killed  the  two  boarders  as  well  as  her 
brother.  The  people  out  there  on  the  little 
islands  tell  to  this  day  about  how  wonderful  it 
was  that  I  got  away,  and  they  say  that  nothing- 
could  be  plainer  in  this  particular  instance  than 
THE  INTERVENING  HAND  OF  MY" 
HEAVENLY  FATHER. 

"  Just  to  give  up  and  rest 

All  on  a  love  secure. 
Out  of  a  world  that's  hard  at  the  best, 

Looking  to  heaven  as  sure. 

Even  to  hope,  through  cloud  and  fear, 
In  darkest  night,  that  the  dawn  is  near ; 

Just  to  wait  at  the  Master's  feet. 
Surely  now,  the  bitter  is  sweet." 

I  have  always  felt  that  an  utmost  and  abso- 


_3P  DEATH,    WPIERE   IS   THY   STING  f 

Jute  reliance  ,on  the  Lord  is  necessary  in  life. 
Indeed  I  believe  that  there  is  no  perfect  happi- 
ness and  peace  in  store  for  us  until  we  get  to  the 
j)lace  where  we  have  an  unlimited  faith  in  the 
fact  that  "  all  things  work  together  for  good  to 
them  that  love  God."  Yet,  knowing  this,  I  must 
admit  that  my  lot  to  be  a  guest  and  a  stranger 
everywhere  has  not  always  been  an  easy  one; 
-and  many  a  time,  when  wearied  unto  death  at  the 
outlook  of  ever  carrying  the  tent-poles  on  my 
back  and  my  home  in  the  suitcase,  I  have  been  in 
a  strait  betwixt  two,  having  a  desire  to  depart, 
and  to  be  with  Christ,  which  is  far  better." 

For  six  years  I  worked  among  feeble-minded, 
insane,  tuberculosis,  and  persons  with  other  dis- 
eases. This  was  for  me  a  daily  reminder  of  the 
uncertainty  of  life,  how  health,  youth,  and  beauty 
were  subject  to  decay  and  death.  The  most 
beautful  scenes  I  witnessed  was  when  a  dying 
Christian  bravely  and  triumphant  went  to  meet 
his  Maker.  "Death,  where  is  thy  sting?  O, 
grave,  where  is  thy  victory-?"  On  the  other 
hand,  I  felt  an  undescribable  terror,  when  I 
heard  and  saw  the  anguish  of  the  wicked  in  their 
hour  of  death;  and  with  more  fervor  I  prayed 
to  God  to  let  me  live  a  righteous  life,  so  that  I 
might  die  the  death  of  the  righteous.  After 
several  years  of  hard  hospital  work,  1  suddenly 
took  sick  and  had  to  undergo  a  dangerous  opera- 
lion.      Complctch-   broken    (kn\n    jihysically,   and 


STOK]V[    WILL  AFRIGHT   NO   MORE.  3/" 

near  the  brink  of  eternity,  I  felt  very  happy  in 
the  thought  that  I  would  soon  be  permitted  to 
see  the  King  in  His  glory.  I  was  perfectly  satis- 
field  to  exchange  the  cross  for  the  crown,  and 
calmly  resting  on  the  promises  of  God  I  awaited 
the  final  promotion  to  come  up  higher.  While 
laying  on  the  high,  hard  operation  table,  I  felt 
as  I  was  borne  and  lifted  closer  and  closer  in  the 
arms  of  my  heavenly  Father ;  and  when  the  nurse 
tied  me  down,  and  I  looked  through  the  glass 
roof  up  towards  the  blue  firmament,  it  seemed 
that  the  white  clouds  were  angels'  wings  ready  to 
carry  me  home.  I  thought  I  heard  dear  voices 
sing:  "Home,  home,  over  there  on  yonder  shore 
white  robed  hosts  are  waiting  for  me  to  come 
home."  I  knew  that  the  blood  of  Jesus  had  made 
me  clean  and  ready  for  death,  and  that  His  name 
would  open  wide  for  me  the  pearly  portals  of 
heaven. 

"  Why  should  I  anxious  be  ? 
Glad  day,  glad  day. 
Light  appear  on  the  shore. 
Storm  will  afifright  no  more. 
For  He  is  at  hand  today. 
Glad  day,  glad  day. 
It  is  the  crowning  day." 

This  time,  however,  I  was  disappointed.  As" 
yet  I  was  not  allowed  to  lay  down  the  sword. 
My  life-work  was  not  quite  ended,  and  the  souE 


38  HER    MISSION    IN    LIFE. 

Avas  not  ripe  enough  for  harvesting.  Yet,  a  little 
while  was  given  me  to  fight  the  good  cause ;  and 
as  health  and  strength  returned,  I  consecrated 
my  life  as  never  before  to  the  service  of  the  Lord. 
AND  THIS  I  TAKE  TO  BE  THE  MISSION 
WHICH  THE  LORD  HAS  GIVEN  ME,  TO 
BEAR  WITNESS  WHEREVER  I  GO  OF 
HIS  FAITHFULNESS  AND  LOVE." 

"  Well,  that  was  really  a  fine  testimony,"  the 
Editor-in-chief  said  api)rovingly,  when  the 
brother  came  to  the  close  of  the  manuscript, 
"  the  only  thing  that  puzzles  me  is  that  a  girl  like 
that  can  find  any  pleasure  in  a  company  such  as 
yours."  "  You  are  very  frankspoken,  are  you 
not?"  the  younger  man  replied  somewhat  nettled, 
"  as  for  Bertha,  }ou  need  have  no  worry.  She 
has  alread}'  given  me  the  cold  shoulder  and  in- 
tends to  go  to  Laj)land  as  a  missionary  in  a  day 
or  two."  "  God  bless  the  girl,"  the  other  one  ex- 
claimed heartily,  "  I  will  tell  the  cashier  to  send 
her  fifty  crowns  as  my  contribution  to  a  good 
-cause." 


CHAPTER  III. 

HET^  FOUR  YEARS  AMONG  THE 
FEEBLE-MINDED. 

"  Hello,  girls,  have  you  heard  that  we  have 
gotten  two  new  attendants  today?" 

"  What  is  it  you  are  saying,  Hannah?  Have 
you  seen  them  ?" 

"  Yes,  the  Superintendent,  Miss  Holmquist 
herself,  has  just  brought  them  to  the  institution. 
The  name  of  the  one  is  Signy,  and  she  is  the 
daughter  of  a  school  teacher  somewhere  in  Dale- 
carlia;  the  name  of  the  other  is  Bertha,  and  she 
is  like  Melchizedek  in  this,  that  no  one  knows 
where  she  is  from,  as  she  seems  to  have  neither 
^parents  nor  genealogy." 

"  Like  him  in  years  too?"  queried  one  of  the 
nurses. 

"  Oh,  no,  no !"  expostulated  Hannah,  with  a 
grimace.  "  She  is  merely  a  half-grown  kid,  per- 
haps sixteen  at  the  most,  and  Signy  is  of  about 
the  same  age,  although  not  so  hopelessly  childish 
as  the  other.  And  just  to  think  that  those  kids 
are  to  take  the  places  of  the  old  attendants !  Miss 
Holmquist  said  that  they  would  be  allowed  to 
try  halls  "  3  "  and  "  4  "  in  the  First  Division,  and 
that  they  were  to  be  placed  on  duty  this  after- 
noon. I  have  just  this  to  say,  that  the  honorable 
Superintendent  will  have  to  look  after  the  new 
specimens  herself;  I  don't  worry  my  brains  as- 
39 


-40  AT  THE  INSTITUTION. 

to  how  they  manage  their  halls.  Besides,  they 
will  of  course  be  companions  to  those  in  the  at- 
tendants' room  of  the  Division,  so  that  no  one 
of  us  need  have  anything  to  do  with  them.  But 
huri-y  up,  you  girls  who  are  to  go  on  duty !  Our 
scant  noon  recess  is  already  at  an  end,  and  we 
have  to  be  off  and  relieve  the  forenoon  guard." 

Four  of  the  attendants  answered  the  call,  and 
all  wended  their  way  through  the  magnificent, 
extensive  park  belonging  to  the  institution.  Ar- 
riving in  the  vicinity  of  a  large  open  space,  about 
in  the  center  of  the  woods,  the}-  saw  that  the 
forenoon  guard  were  resting  with  their  charges, 
being  weary  after  a  long  promenade,  and  Miss 
Holmquist  with  the  new  attendants  had  joined 
them. 

"  Did  you  hear  of  the  peasant  who  came  to 
see  the  .Superintendent  the  other  day,  and  when 
he  at  last  found  her,  lifted  up  his  voice  and  spoke 
and  said :  '  Have  I  the  honor  to  talk  to  the  head 
idiot?'" 

"  Hold  }-our  tongue,  Hannah,"  hissed  attend- 
ant h'mma,  "  you  exaggerate  like  a  trooper  and 
lie  like  an  author!  Don't  you  see  that  Her  Grace 
has  her  eyes  on  us,  and  we  have  to  try  and  look 
<lc\out  ?" 

"What,  you  curtsy  so  profoundly  already!" 
continued  I'jnma,  with  a  giggle,  as  Hannah  in 
her  eagerness  to  scan  and  criticise  the  newcomei  s 


OUT    IN    A    STRANGE   WORLD.  4I 

nearly  turned  a  somersault  over  a  stump  that  lay 
in  her  path. 

Attendants  Anna  and  Johanna  walked  quietly 
conversing  at  some  distance  from  the  other  two. 
"  Poor  children,"  said  the  latter,  sympathetically, 
■"  no  doubt  they  have  left  their  homes  for  the  first 
time,  and  of  course  they  have  come  here  with  no 
•conception  of  what  it  means  to  care  for  idiots." 

"  I  too  feel  sorry  for  them,"  replied  Anna, 
"  and  we  nuist  do  what  we  can  to  protect  them 
from  Hannah's  and  Emma's  influence.  As  you 
"know,  we  have  prayer  meeting  in  our  attendants' 
apartment  tonight,  after  we  have  put  our  children 
■to  bed,  and  we  can  commence  by  inviting  them. 
Maybe  both  of  them  are  Christians." 

"  And  if  not,"  suggested  Johanna,  "they  may 
"become  such." 

Poor  little  Signy  and  Bertha  !  It  was  by  no 
means  easy  for  them  to  adapt  themselves  to  their 
new  surroundings.  They  had  never  before  seen 
a  feeble-minded  person,  and  to  be  all  of  a  sudden 
brougth  in  the  midst  of  a  hundred  yelling  and 
absurdly  acting  idiots  was  an  experience  that 
threatened  to  overthrow  their  composure.  A  boy 
of  about  the  same  age  as  the  new  attendants  was 
the  first  one  to  present  himself.  On  his  exceed- 
ingly slender  and  unsteady  legs  he  skipped  to- 
ward them  with  incredible  speed. 

"  Wha — wha — what  is  your  name?"  he  yelled 


42  AMONG  EXCEPTIONAL  CHILDREN. 

in  the  most  excited  manner  putting  liis  long,  lean, 
arms  about  Signy's  neck.  "  M — m — my  n — n — - 
name  i — is  Ri — Ri — Richard." 

"  Don't  be  afraid/'  said  the  Superintendent,, 
noticing  the  frightened  girl's  pallid  face  as  she 
vainl}^  strove  to  liberate  herself.  "  Richard  is 
one  of  our  very  nicest  boys." 

"  Come  here  to  Aunt  Alma,"  she  continued, 
addressing  the  constantly  chattering  boy,  "  and 
promise  me  always  to  be  kind  and  obedient  to- 
your  new  attendants." 

The  next  sight  was  a  woman  of  fifty  years, 
whose  lower  extremities  were  completely  par- 
alyzed. She  sat  in  a  high  basket  chair,  and  her 
head  was  abnormally  large  and  ugly,  in  shape 
resembling  that  of  a  horse. 

"Aunt  Alma,  Aunt  Alma,  come  here  to  little 
Ebba,"  prattled  the  old  woman,  while  the  saliva 
flowed  in  a  broad  stream  down  her  chin. 

"Look  here,  this  is  P2bba,"  said  Miss  Holm- 
(juist.  "  She  is  a  daughter  of  one  of  our  most 
brilhant  women  writers  and  is  the  pet  of  us  all. 
And  as  she  sleeps  in  the  Little  Children's  Halt 
No.  3,  Sister  Bertha  will  have  her  in  charge.  As 
you  .see,  poor  Ebba  is  entirely  hel]iless,  and  she- 
has  to  be  lifted  several  times  a  clay.  She  is 
])retty  heavy  and  troublesome,  but  I  guess  you 
can  manage  her." 

"  How  do  A'ou  do.  Miss  ilolmquist  !"  said  a 
manU    voice.      "Oh,   ves,   these  ai'c  the   new   at- 


TO  SUCH  BELONGS  TlfE  KINGDOM.  43 

-tendants.  My  name  is  Uno  Verner.  I  belong 
to  a  wealthy  and  prominent  family ;  my  brother 
•owns  a  large  business  establishment  in  Stockholm 
and  is  personally  acquainted  with  the  king.  I 
play  all  kinds  of  instruments  and  have  myself  a 
guitar,  harp,  flute,  and  organ.  Besides  I  live  in 
the  Sylvan  Cottage  and  have  an  attendant  of  my 
■own.  You  are  most  welcome  to  visit  me  there." 
And  courtesly  dofl:"ing  his  cap  he  walked  away 
with  a  dignified  manner. 

"Can  that  really  be  an  idiot?"  asked  Signy, 
under  her  breath. 

"  Yes,  he  is  one  of  the  children,"  said  the 
Superintendent  with  a  winning  smile.  "  You 
see,  my  young  friend,  we  never  use  the  word 
'  idiot ' ;  we  prefer  to  call  them  '  children  ',  and 
no  matter  how  old  they  get  they  always  remain 
children  in  understanding." 

"  That  reminds  me,"  said  Signy,  thoughtfully, 
""  of  a  sexton  who  used  to  show  particular  rever- 
ence for  an  idiot  who  was  in  the  habit  of  attend- 
ing the  services  in  his  church.  On  being  asked 
•vvhy  he  always  bowed  so  much  deeper  to  the 
feeble-minded  man  than  to  any  one  else,  he  re- 
plied: "  Because  his  understanding  is  with  God." 

"  Yes,  therein  lies  a  profound  truth,"  said 
the  Superintendent,  gravely,  "  and  none  has  a 
better  claim  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven  than  these 
unfortunate  and  defenseless  people,  whose  only, 
hut  great,  advantage  lies  in  their  childlike  faith 


44  REVEALED  IT  TO  BABIES. 

in  God.  They  are  not  so  'wise  '  that  they  can 
entertain  doubts  concerning  the  Lord's  existence. 
It  is  often  touching  to  behold  their  childUke  con- 
fidence in  His  loving  care  and  hear  their  simple 
child  prayers.  But  to  return  to  Uno,  regardless 
of  his  childish  self-conceit,  he  is  really  a  talented 
musician.  He  is  master  of  almost  any  instru- 
ment, and  although  entirely  ignorant  of  notes  his 
ear  is  nearly  infallible,  and  yet,  though  a  man  of 
thirty  years,  he  is  a  child  in  every  other  respect. 
We  have  another  boy  of  his  age,  who  also  is  in 
a  way  a  genius.  He  draws  and  paints  the  most 
beautiful  sketches,  and  one  of  his  paintings  took 
a  large  prize  at  one  of  our  provincial  exhibits. 
Not  long  ago  he  made  me  a  present  of  a  drawing 
of  the  institution,  including  all  its  seven  build- 
ings, and  it  was  indeed  a  masterpiece.  We  have 
also  some  older  girls,  who  are  daily  occupied 
with  the  most  intricate  embrodieries,  and  several 
of  their  articles  have  taken  prizes  at  the  annual' 
])i'()\  incial  exhibit.  \\  e  have  also  a  manual  train- 
ing department,  where  most  of  the  older  boys 
execute  many  and  amirable  pieces  of  workman- 
ship. But  regardless  of  this  fact  they  can  never 
be  turned  loose  to  shift  for  themselves  but  must 
aiwa\s  be  led,  watched,  and  treated  as  children." 
"What  a  dreaming,  beautiful  face!"  remarked 
I'.cilh.'i,  pointing  to  a  girl  of  fifteen  years,  who 
was  sitting  nu'ckl\  on  a  stninp  with  her  liands- 
(IcvoiilK    folded. 


SAFE  IN   THE  ARMS  OF  JESUS."  45 

■'^K-Oh,  that  is  little  Eva/'  replied  Miss  Holm- 
quist,  smiling,  "  she  is  our  nightingale.  No  bile 
can  have  a  prettier  voice  than  she."  ' ' 

"  Who  talks; 'about  Eva?  Eva  is  a  good  girl 
today!  Eva  asks  who  it  is  that  talks  about  her. 
Yes,  she  does!    Eva  wants  to  know  .  .  .  ."        ' 

"Doesn't  Eva  know  me  today?"  asked  Miss 
Holmquist,  gently  interrupting  her. 

"  Is  it  Attendant  Anna?    Or  Millan,  maybe?" 

"  Can't  you  see  it  is  Aunt  Alma  ?"  cried  a 
brave  boy  who  was  standing  near  by. 

"  Oh,  yes,  it  is  Aunt  Alma !  Eva  has  been 
good  today !  Maybe  papa  will  come  and  see  Eva 
soon,  she  is  so  good.  Shall  I  sing  a  song  now, 
because  Eva  is  so  good?"  So  saying  she  stroked 
her  cheek  and  began  to  sing:  "  Tiyggare  kan 
ingen  vara  an  Guds  lilla  baraskara."  (Safe  in 
the  arms  of  Jesus.) 

The  two  newcomers  stood  with  tears  in  their 
eyes  when  the  little  songstress  had  finished. 

"How  beautiful!"  exclaimed  Signy ;  "but  I 
fail  to  understand  how  she  can  remember  all  the 
verses  without  hesitating  on  a  word." 

"  It  is  really  surprising,"  replied  Miss  Holm- 
quist, "  how  easily  she  retains  entire  songs  in  her 
memory  whereas  she  can  never  remember,  for 
instance  my  name  or  that  of  her  attendant,  al- 
though she  has  heard  them  hundreds  of  times." 

"  The  most  of  the  children  look  cheerful  and 
happy,"  remarked  Signy. 


46  A  WELL-BELOVED  PIONEER. 

"  Yes,  they  do  not  know  much  about  the  cares 
of  the  world.  It  was  different,  however,  some 
fifty  years  ago,  when  there  was  not  in  our  entire 
country  a  real  home  for  feeble-minded,  but  they 
were  most  generally  quartered  on  the  poor  farm, 
where  they  were  exposed  to  the  worst  kind  of 
neglect,  as  well  as  contempt  and  abuse.  My  pre- 
decessor, Miss  Carlgren,  was  pioneer  in  the  field 
of  caring  for  the  feeble-minded  in  this  country, 
and  she  it  was  who  founded  this,  the  first  largest, 
and,  1  may  add,  the  most  modern  institution  of 
its  kind  in  Sweden.  Now  we  have  a  state  insti- 
Ivition  for  the  care  of  the  feeble-minded  in  every 
])r(n"ince,  and  the  commissioners  of  the  various 
])rovinces  are  charged  w  ith  the  duty  (jf  seeing  to 
it  in  the  most  particular  manner  that  the  feeble- 
minded children  get  proper  protection  and  care. 
Miss  Carlgren  was  an  instrument  chosen  by  God 
to  cham|)ion  the  cause  of  these  unfortunates. 
She  lived  and  died  a  saint,  loved  and  honored  by 
all  classes  of  society." 

"  I>ul,"  concluded  the  Superintendent  with  a 
>i.uli.  "it  was  no  easy  matter  to  take  up  her  cloak 
and  satisf\  the  demands  thai  were  ])laced  on  the 
successor.  .Still  1  ha\c  endeavored  to  do  my 
dnl\,  not  laboring  as  an  eye-servanl  to  please 
men.  but  seeking  to  serve  the  Lord  in  these  His 
least  brethren,  know  ing  that  what  wo  do  tor  them 
we  .'dso  do  for  llini.  'Their  angels  always  be- 
liold  the  lace  of  the  lieavenlv   ['"atlier.'  " 


FAITHFUL    IN    THE    LEAST.  47 

"  However,  I  must  return  to  my  office.  The 
city  parson,  who  is  also  president  of  the  institu- 
tion, is  coming  here  in  the  afternoon  and  will 
hold  evening  services  in  the  chapel,  where  the 
attendants  gather  with  their  children  morning 
and  evening.  There  are  various  things  I  might 
add  respecting  your  work,  but  I  will  now  turn 
you  over  to  the  older  attendants.  The  most  of 
our  attendants  are  sincere  Christians,  who  have  a 
deep  sense  of  their  responsibility  and  their  obli- 
gations toward  the  children  entrusted  to  their 
care  and  perform  their  work  as  before  the  Lord. 
We  have,  for  instance,  '  Charlotte  in  the  Sylvan 
Cottage  '  with  her  twelve  grown  boys,  and  if  any 
one  can  be  said  to  be  perfectly  faithful  and  de- 
voted to  her  calling,  it  is  she.  For  more  than 
twenty-five  years  she  has  stood  at  the  same  post 
as  a  real  mother  to  these  boys,  who  oftentimes 
try  one's  ]iatience  very  hard.  But  I  have  never 
found  her  anything  but  hap])y  and  contented  with 
her  task.  Besides  her  we  have  the  attendants 
Mathilda,  Mary,  and  Christine,  with  others,  who 
have  all  performed  a  most  meritorious  and 
praiseworthy  work  for  25  or  30  years.  At 
])resent,  however,  we  have  some  younger  attend- 
ants who  have  not  yet  seen  fit  to  devote  them- 
selves wholly  to  the  interests  of  the  institution 
and  the  children.  And  yet  we  cannot  remove 
them  as  long  as  they  discharge  their  duties 
properly  and  treat  the  children  well." 


48  THE  INSTITUTE  CLOWN. 

Miss  Holmquist  now  introduced  the  two 
}<ning  attendants  to  the  four  on  duty. 

"  Your  new  companions,"  she  said,  "  can  for 
ihe  present  accompany  you  as  two  extras  till 
they  get  somewhat  acquainted  with  the  children." 
And  as  Sisters  Anna  and  Johanna  have  charge 
of  apartments  "  i  "  and  "  2  "  of  the  same  Di- 
\  ision  as  Sisters  Bertha  and  Signy,  I  commend 
ihem  to  you  in  the  most  particular  manner,  ask- 
ing you  to  aid  them  as  much  as  possible,  inform- 
ing them  as  to  their  various  duties  till  they  can 
perform  them  unaided." 

Miss  Holmquist  had  barely  taken  her  leave 
when  an  elderly  lame  man  made  haste  to  pay 
his  respects  to  the  young  attendants. 

"  I  have  the  honor  of  introducing  Mr.  Theo- 
dore Erikson,"  said  Hanna  with  a  mischievous 
leer.  "  In  the  first  place  he  is  one  of  our  most 
appreciated  shoemakers,  and  above  all  the 
famous  lecturer  of  the  institution,  universally 
admired  for  his  fluency  of  speech  and  eloquence." 

Theodore  bowed,  evidently  greatly  flattered. 

"  It  is  always  a  pleasure,"  he  said,  "  to  be 
recognized  for  what  one  really  is.  and  as  we  are 
excused  from  shoemaking  today  1  have  decided 
to  di\ert  \ou  this  afternoon  by  means  of  a  dis- 
course on  ])ractical  matters.  C\)ncert  Master 
Uno  Verner  and  some  of  our  ])rincipal  nutsicians 
lia\c  kindly  proffered  their  services  for  the  enter- 
laiiinicnt,  and  il   is  needless  to  saw  that  we  have 


AMONG    FULL-FLEDGED    IDIOTS.  49 

arranged  this  festival  in  honor  of  the  new  attend- 
ants. We  therefore  hope  to  see  you  one  and  all 
in  the  large  playroom  after  drinking  coffee." 

All  promised  to  be  there,  and  at  the  appointed 
hour  were  ushered  to  their  respective  places  on 
benches  running  along  the  walls,  while  in  the 
middle  of  the  room,  on  chairs,  sat  the  stolid  look- 
ing concert  company  with  the  limping  lecturer, 
now  wearing  a  flower  in  his  buttonhole. 

The  opening  selection  was : 

"  Bah  !  Bah  !  Lamb  so  white  ! 

Have  you  any  w^ool  .■' 
Yes,  yes,  little  child  ! 

See,  the  sack  is  full  I" 

"  Catch  on?"  whispered  the  incorrigible  Han- 
na.  Evidently  it  is  the  new  attendants  who  are 
the  ■  lambs.'  Those  songl^rds  of  ours  always 
take  pretty  good  aim." 

The  ne.Kt  selection  was : 

"  On  starlit  Christmas  morning 
To  Bethelehem  I  go." 

"Didn't  I  tell  you  so?"  grinned  Hannah. 
"Aren't  they  showing  discernment  and  taste  in 
their  choice  songs?  Can  you  imagine  anything 
more  impressive  than  a  Christmas  carol  in  the 
middle  of  summer?  But  something  still  more 
touching  you  might  have  witnessed  once  last 
year.      Miss   Holmquist   had  been   absent    for  a 


50  A  MISPLACED  SONG. 

year  or  more  on  a  study  tour  through  Europe. 
Her  object  was,  of  course,  to  study  idiocy  and 
observe  how  it  was  disposed  of  in  other  countries, 
so  that  she  might  use  her  knowledge  on  us  poor 
creatures  at  home.  Well,  with  united  effort  we 
raised  a  portal  of  honor  at  the  main  entrance 
when  the  day  of  her  arrival  drew  near.  We 
made  special  efforts  to  fix  up  a  song  of  welcome,, 
which  we  did  our  utmost  to  pound  into  those 
heads  which  we  deemed  promising  enough. 
When  at  last  the  hour  had  arrived  and  the  driver 
had  driven  to  the  station  to  get  the  object  of  our 
longings,  we  were  all,  children  and  attendants, 
lined  up  in  two  long  rows,  one  on  each  side  of 
the  driveway  leading  to  her  house.  Then,  time 
and  again,  we  im])ressed  on  the  minds  of  all, 
that  as  soon  as  the  leader  said  '  one,  two,  three,' 
all  should  join  in  the  song  of  welcome.  And  to 
be  real  sure  of  their  obedience  we  represented  to 
them  that  if  they  would  sing  real  nice,  Aunt 
Alma  would  undoulitedly,  in  honor  of  the  day. 
ser\e  extra  good  afternoon  coffee  with  belong- 
ings. 1  guess  so!  When  the  cab  with  Miss  Holm- 
(|uist  i)assed  beneath  the  portal  of  honor  and  the 
leader's  baton  was  raised,  '  one,  two — '  a  voice 
began  : 

'  I'])  through  the  air,  acnxss  the  deep  sea. 
and  over  the  earth  in  tempestuous  flight,'  and  to 
vtop  ilicin  w  lu-n  tlicy  liad  once  got  a  start  was. 
of    course',    iiiiix  i^siltk',    s(i    i1k'   song   ot    welcome 


AN    EVENING    SERVICE.  5I 

had  to  be  reserved  for  a  more  suitable  occasion." 

"  We  have  today  the  sad  duty  of  welcominj^ 
a  couple  of  child  attendants  who,  so  to  speak,  are 
not  yet  dr}'  behind  the  ears,"  began  Theodore 
J-^rikson,  and  thereupon  he  went  on  with  a  flood 
of  incoherent  nonsense  which  neither  the  peals 
of  laughter  from  the  attendants  nor  the  remarks 
<jf  the  more  sensible  children  could  stop.  But 
at  last  his  eloquence  exhausted  itself,  and  some 
one  in  the  crowd  began  to  sing: 

"  Mother's  little  Ole  went  to  the  woods." 
After  this  final  song  all  trooped  out. 

Later  in  the  e\'ening,  however,  there  was  a 
really  solemn  hour  in  the  chapel,  when  the  parson 
spoke  in  a  sincere  manner  in  words  easily  com- 
]jreliended  by  the  majorit}'  of  the  congregation. 
And  before  as  well  as  after  the  discourse  the  rich 
tones  of  the  organ  accom])anie(l  the  song  of  the 
children.  The  Superintendent  followed  the 
new  attendants  to  their  de])artment  in  order  to 
aid  and  encourage  them  in  their  new  duties,  and 
soon  all  the  children  sat  in  their  beds,  ready  to 
say  their  evening  ])rayers. 

"  Now  fold  your  hands,"  commanded  Miss 
Holmquist.     "  God,  who  lovest  .  .  .   .   " 

"God,  who  lovest  children  all,"  repeated  the 
children,  "  Watch  and  keej)  me,  lest  I  fall,  And. 
w  here'er  on  earth  I  wander,  Lead  me  to  my  home 
u])  yonder.  God  bless  Aunt  Alma,  God  bless  our 
teachers,  (iod  bless  our  attendants." 


52  THE  PENTECOSTAL  FIRE. 

■';.;•*  And  may  the  Lord  especially  help  and  bless 
t'Jie  new  attendants,"  added  Miss  Holmquist  with 
a  smile. 

"God  bless  our  new  attendants,"  retreated 
the  children.  . '   -  .*  ;  . 

A  half  year  had  passed  since  Signy  and 
Bertha  took  up  work  in  the  Johannesberg  Insti- 
tute for  the  Feeble-minded.  They  were  now  well 
acquainted  both  with  the  children  and  the  work, 
and  on  the  whole  they  were  content  Avith  their 
lot. 

It  was  in  the  year  1907,  and  the  spiritual 
awakening  which  then  passed  over  the  country 
had  left  its  impress  also  on  the  personnel  of  the 
institution.  Several  of  the  attendants,  who  du:'- 
ing  the  evenings  had  attended  the  revival  meet- 
ings in  the  city,  had  been  led  to  a  happier  spiritual 
life  with  God,  which  was  especially  roticenble 
in  their  every-day  life  among  their  comrades  and 
the  children.  The  clergy  of  the  town  worl-ed 
hand  in  hand  with  a  couple  of  visiting  laymen, 
and  one  of  the  latter  sometimes  led  the  custoiV'.nr)' 
services  in  the  meeting-house.  As  he  frecjuontly 
ff)un(l  some  (lilticult\'  in  expressing  himself,  ho 
used  to  ha\e  recourse  to  certain  (|ueer  gutlu'V'il 
rounds.  In  iiarticular  he  seemed  to  have  a 
strange  parlialit\  for  the  phrase  "one  thing  and 
anf)ther."  .So  it  liappcncd  that  young  Attendant 
liertha   sat  night  after  night,   when  he  had  the 


SADLY  OUT  OF  TUNE  53 

word,  and  thought:  "Here  it  conies!"  And 
come  it  did — "one  thing  and  another."  At  last, 
when  she  could  stand  it  no  longer,  she  rook 
courage  and  asked  him  to  choose  some  other 
auxilary  phrase,  which,  after  many  fruitless  ef- 
forts, he  succeeded  in  doing.  But  as  his  choice 
fell  on  "  My  brethren  and  sisters,"  she  was,  still 
sorely  vexed  in  her  honest  endeavors  to  keep 
sober,  for  as  a  rule  his  little  audience  consisted 
entirely  of  "  sisters." 

Then  came  the  autumn  of  1907,  when  the 
above  mentioned  "  Sister  Johanna  "  felt  called  to 
go  out  as  a  Bible  woman,  and  accordingly  left  the 
institution  in  order  to  take  up  studies  in  a.  Hible 
school.  In  consequence  of  this  Signy  was  t.^-ans- 
ferred  to  Sister  Anna's  Division,  and  Bejrtha- got 
a  new  room  mate.  The  new  angel  of,  mercy 
came  from  the  Samaritan  Home  in  Upsala  and 
let  on  that  she  was  no  dunce  when  it  came;  to 
institute  or  hospital  life.  Alma  Svenson  was 
quite  an  independent  individual,  but  she  was  both 
handsome  and  warmhearted,  though  she  was  full 
of  fun  and  mischief.  And  it  w^as  not  long  before 
she  had  both  Bertha  and  the  rest  under  her  in- 
fluence. One  day  Bertha  was  making  the  chil- 
dren's beds  in  her  hall,  singing  as  she  did  so : 
"  There's  sunshine  in  my  soul  today 
More  glorious  and  bright  .  .  .  ." 
But  poor  Bertha  had  no  ear  for  music,  and  her 
.singing  was  sadly  out  of  tune — sometimes  up  in 
the  skies,  sometimes  down  in  the  dust  of  the 


54  OUT  ON    MISCHIEF. 

earth.  While  thus  occupied  she  was  surprised 
by  Ahiia. 

"  Your  voice  isn't  bad  at  all,"  she  said,  "  but 
you  shouldn't  fidget  up  and  down  like  that.  Take 
it  more  easily  and  evenly.  Listen  to  me."  And 
y\lma  sounded  her  nightingale  voice  while  Bertha 
stood  beside  her  admiring  and  supremely  happ\ , 
for  if  there  was  anything  that  girl  loved  it  wa:> 
good  music  and  singing.  In  this  way  Alma  con- 
quered a  large  place  for  herself  in  Bertha's  heart. 
She  could  have  followed  her  in  any  kind  of  mis- 
chief in  order  to  be  rewarded  with  a  song. 

One  evening  after  the  children  had  been  put 
to  bed  Alma  came  with  a  brilliant  scheme. 

"  Anna  and  Signy  are  to  have  cofifee  in  their 
room  tonight  on  some  unknown  pretext,"  she 
said,  "  and  as  they  have  evidently  forgotten  about 
our  existence,  I  have  thought  that  we  might  come 
unbidden.  I  am  sure  you  will  have  no  objection 
towards  returning  good  for  evil  and  giving  them 
a  pleasant  evening  entertainment." 

"Of  course  not,"  i)rom])tly  assured  Hertha. 
"  What  is  your  scheme?" 

"  Nothing  less  than  that  we  are  to  arrange 
for  a  seranade  outside  of  their  room,  and  T  ha\e 
]»rei)are(l  a  number  ihat's  just  tine.  We  will 
lake  Magnus's  big  scrub  pan  that  is  out  in  the 
shed  and  ]ilac('  it  in  their  xestibnlc,  and  perhaps 
von  will  ]>(•  kind  I'lioui;!!  tn  wind  mw  alarm-clock 
as  far  a^  it   will  jjd  ;ind  make  it  "<>  oil    inst  as  \(»u 


I  LEFT  IT  ALL  FOR  JESUS.  55 

put  it  on  the  tin  ])an.  Then  you  stand  b}'  and 
mew  Hke  a  half  score  of  mad  cats  while  1  wrap 
some  tissue  paper  about  a  comb  and  elicit  as 
;?weet  tones  as  possible.  But  get  a  move  on  you 
before  Miss  Holmquist  comes  and  makes  her 
round." 

"Alma,  what  will  she  say  if  she  comes?" 

"  What  about  it,  you  little  idiot !  Are  you 
afraid?     When  did  that  begin?" 

"  I  tell  you  I  am  not  afraid,"  maintained 
Bertha  warmly,  "but  you  know  I  think  a  lot  of 
her  and  .  .  .  ." 

"  Now  listen,  you  childish  brat,"  said  Alma 
Avith  a  sternness  that  brought  conviction,  "  we 
will  not  offend  her  in  the  least.  We  have  just 
finished  our  work  for  the  day,  and  the  night 
guard  has  gone  on  duty.  Besides  the  children 
sleep  like  logs,  and  no  one  can  forbid  us  to  have 
a  little  fun." 

But  during  Alma's  and  Bertha's  {^reparations 
for  the  evening  entertainment  Attendants  Anna 
and  Signy  were  sitting  in  their  room  together 
with  some  of  their  most  intimate  Christian 
friends  from  the  city.  They  sang,  to  the  ac- 
companiment of  their  guitars,  several  of  their 
favorite  songs,  such  as : 

■"  I  left  it  all  for  Jesus; 

My  heart — I  left  it  too. 
Not  I,  but  He,  shall  keep  it, 

He  formed  it  all  anew." 


56  AN    INTERRUPTED    PRAYER    MEETING. 

Then,  after  reading  a  chapter  out  of  their  Bibles 
and  exchanging  thoughts  on  what  they  had  read, 
they  all  knelt  in  prayer.  It  bid  fair  to  become  a 
blessed  and  inspiring  prayer  meeting,  when  sud- 
denly they  were  interrupted  by  a  deafening  crash 
accompanied  b}'  a  most  unearthly  mew-ing  and 
grating.  Frightened  and  pale,  the  praying  ones 
sprang  to  their  feet. 

"It  mvist  be  the  evil  one  himself  who  is  caus- 
ing this  disturbance,"  said  one  of  the  visitors, 
trembling  and  weak-kneed. 

"  At  least  a  couple  of  his  tools,  if  not  him- 
self," suggested  Anna. 

The  next  moment  the}-  had  opened  the  door 
to  the  vestibule  and  recognized  the  poor  offend- 
ers. ■  Needless  to  say,  the  two  musicians  looked 
as  if  they  had  wished  to  be  at  least  half  a  mile 
under  ground. 

"  We  didn't  know  that  you  had  visitors,"  they 
stammered,  blushing  furiouslv. 

"  Yes,  and  prayer  meeting  besides,"  said 
Signy  with  somewhat  of  her  father's  school- 
master-tone. "  You  have  ])lainly  gone  on  the 
devil's  errand  tonight  in  disturbing  us  in  this 
liair- raising  manner." 

It  may  all  eiid  well,"  said  one  of  the  xisitors, 
"if  you  will  take  vour  ;il;n"ni  clock  and  tin  ])an 
away  and  then  come  back  and  confess  your  sin 
before  ( iod  and   join  in  our  prayer  meeting." 

"  "S'^es,  ;nul  we  arc  certain  that  you  would  not 


AN   HAPPY  ENDING.  5/ 

have  done  this  if  you  had  known  what  we  were 
doing,"  added  Anna  with  one  of  her  kindUest  and 
sunniest  smiles. 

The  two  unhappy  girls  obeyed,  meekly  carry- 
ing off  their  musical  instruments  and  promising 
to  return. 

"Are  they  Christians?"  asked  one  of  the 
visitors  sympathetically. 

"  No,  Alma  at  least  is  not  saved,  although  we 
hope  soon  to  win  her  over  on  the  Lord's  side," 
replied  Anna.  "  As  to  Bertha  we  are  not  in  the 
clear.  At  least  she  has  no  control  of  her  haughty 
and  stormy  temper.  Otherwise  she  has,  as  far 
back  as  she  can  remember,  prayed  to  God  and 
loved  His  people." 

Alma  and  Bertha  returned  .  completely  hu- 
miliated and  broken  in  spirit,  and  the  meeting 
ended  with  great  rejoicing,  for  they  both  sought 
and  found  pardon  and  peace. 

For  some  of  the  newly  saved,  however,  it  was 
not  so  easy  to  begin  at  once  to  practice  their 
religion  in  their  daily  life.  They  lived  in  a  kind 
of  intoxication  that  seemed  to  give  them  the  idea 
that  they  were  now  above  their  former  duties  and 
ever}-day  interests.  Now  they  wanted  to  sing 
songs  and  read  devotional  literature  in  the  day 
time  and  in  the  evenings  put  the  children  to  bed 
as  soon  as  possible,  that  they  might  hurry  off  to 
the  meetings.  There  they  could  keep  on  with 
testimony,  singing,  and  protracted  meeting  till  late 


58  MISPLACED  ACTIVITY. 

at  nij^ht.  As  a  result,  the  next  day  they  were  far 
too  tired  and  sleepy  to  pay  i^roper  attention  to 
their  work,  which  was  performed  in  a  rather  per- 
functory manner. 

The  Superintendent,  who  always  seemed 
awake  to  the  interests  of  the  Lord  in  the  place 
where  He  had  placed  her,  was  frequently  con- 
strained to  administer  a  rebuke  to  the  delinquent 
attendants,  which,  however,  was  not  always  taken 
in  good  grace.  She  was  herself  an  elderly  ex- 
perienced Christian  and  knew  that  the  work 
which  God  has  given  us  is  by  no  means  a  side 
issue,  but  on  the  contrary  something  which  we 
should  make  the  best  possible  use  of  to  His  glor\^ 
In  contrast  with  her  companions.  Bertha  was 
not  much  given  to  either  singing  or  readings 
postils ;  still  it  was  somewhat  difficult  for  her  to 
live  always  in  the  world  of  reality.  Her  dream- 
ing thoughts  flitted  around  here  and  there  in  the 
world,  and  in  the  pocket  in  her  white  attendant's 
apron  she  always  had  pen  and  writing  paper  in 
readiness.  For  sometimes  the  poetic  spirit  came 
upon  her,  and  of  course  she  could  not  let  it  go 
by  unheeded.  Whenever  the  summer  weather 
])ermitted  the  attendants  took  a  promenade 
<luring  the  day  with  the  children  in  the  extensive 
b^hannesberg  Park.  In  the  meantime  it  was 
nothing  uncommon  lo  see  several  of  the  guards 
cluster  together,  dc|)ly  absorbed  in  matters  of 
ihcir  own   (.(inccni,   while   r.artha   sat  h\  herself 


YOUNG  AND   FOOLISH.  59 

far  away  in  dreamland.  A.s  a  rule  the  children 
played  around  them  in  an  orderly  manner,  hut 
occasionally  one  of  the  most  independent  would 
stray  out  of  sight. 

"  Bertha,  do  you  see  Annie  or  Eric  ?"  it  would 
come  from  the  trio. 

"  Naw'  !"  she  would  reply  in  a  quite  distant 
manner. 

"  liut  what  on  earth  are  you  doing,  since  you 
do  not  look  after  the  children?"  they  would  ask 
in  sudden  alarm. 

"  Writing  poetry !"  was  the  laconic  rei)ly. 
"What  are  you  doing?" 

Practicing  a  farewell  song  for  our  pastor,"^ 
explained  one  of  the  trio  with  a  sigh,  "  but  one 
can  never  serve  God  in  peace !  Now  w^e  have  to 
squander  our  precious  time  by  hunting  that 
youngster." 

One  day  Alma  came  with  beaming  face. 

"  Do  you  know,  Bertha,"  she  said,  "  Miss 
Holmquist  told  us  today  that  a  head  attendant 
had  been  engaged  to  help  her  regulate  the  work, 
and  the  best  of  all  is  that  she  is  a  Christian." 

But  liertha  was  suspicious  and  would  not  be 
carried  away  by  the  general  rejoicing. 

"  You  will  see  that  the  days  of  gladness  are 
at  an  end,"  she  said  gloomily. 

The  day  came  when  the  Sui)erintendent  in- 
stalled the  new^  head  attendant,  "  Sister  Ljung," 
and  everything  looked  promising  for  a  week  or 


•6o  PRACTICAL  RELIGION. 

two.  The  new  member  of  the  staff  was  awake 
and  observant,  but  kept  quiet  and  pleasant  until 
her  fast  growing  plans  had  reached  maturity. 
One  day  the  intelligence  spread  like  wildfire  to 
all  tlie  buildings  of  the  institution  that  the  attend- 
ants that  evening  were  invited  for  coffee  and 
prayer  meeting  to  Miss  Ljung's.  The  majority 
of  those  invited  had  made  preparations  to  go  to 
the  revival  meetings  in  the  city,  but  as  no  one 
wanted  to  be  discourteous  they  all  made  their 
appearance  at  the  appointed  time  in  the  head  at- 
tendant's room.  To  the  surprise  of  all  and  the 
horror  of  Bertha  they  found  great  heaps  of 
clothes  piled  up. 

"Sit  down  and  make  yourself  at  home,** 
beamed  the  hostess.  "  We  shall  surely  pass 
a  pleasant  evening  together,  especially  as  we  are 
in  position  to  accomplish  a  needed  missionary 
work  and  thus  combine  business  with  pleasure. 
Our  seamstresses  here  are  so  loaded  down  with 
sewing  that  it  will  doubtless  be  a  pleasure  to  you 
to  lighten  their  work.  The  clothes  }'ou  see  here 
belong  to  your  children  and  need  mending;  there- 
fore let  us  go  to  work  with  united  efforts.  In 
the  meantime  we  can  encourage  one  another 
with  suitable  songs,  and  one  of  us  can  read  to 
the  rest  out  of  some  good  book.  Afterwards  we 
will  have  prayer  meeting  and  refreshments." 

The  guests  felt  bitterly  disappointed.  What 
l^ind  of  a  new  arrangement   was   that — sit   and 


THE   HATEFUL   RAGS.  6l 

mend  rags  during  recess — did  you  ever  hear  any- 
thing hke  it !  But  there  was  nothing  to  do  but  to 
keep  in  good  humor  and  tiy  to  look  happy.  All 
■could  sew  except  Bertha,  who  scarcely  knew  how 
to  hold  a  needle.  In  this  Sister  Ljung  instructed 
her  with  exemplary  patience,  while  her  awkward 
pupil  put  on  such  an  air  of  martyrdom  that  her 
companions  almost  forgot  their  own  wretched- 
ness for  the  pleasure  of  beholding  the  tragic  ex- 
pression of  her  face.  The  first  sewing  bee  was 
not  the  last,  but  more  and  more  of  the  attendants 
dropped  out,  and  at  last  so  few  attended  these 
gatherings  tliat  they  had  to  be  discontinued.  Miss 
Ljung  was  not  so  easily  discouraged,  however, 
and  if  the  attendants  didn't  want  to  give  up  their 
evenings,  she  argued,  they  ought  at  least  to  be 
willing  to  spend  the  spare  moments  from  their 
•ordinary  work  in  the  sewing  room.  Only  a  few 
of  the  older  attendants  would  put  up  with  the 
new.  regulations;  the  rest  knew  no  bounds  to 
their  indignation.  And  Bertha  showed  the  most 
revolutionary  tendency  of  them  all.  If  they  had 
only  been  asked  to  do  something  else !  But  to 
mend  rags !  Could  anything  more  senseless  be 
imagined !  The  head  attendant  seemed  to  have 
a  special  liking  for  her  too.  If  she  tried  to  steal 
away  to  her  room  after  finishing  her  day's  work, 
Miss -Ljung  would  unfailingly  descend  on  her 
like  a  thunderbolt  with  her  hateful :  "  Won't 
Sister  be  so  kind  and  help  us  in  the  sewing  room 


62  NOT    SANCTIFIED   AS   YET. 

now,  unless  you  are  occupied  with  something 
more  important?"  I'ndoubtedly  there  were 
numerous  things  which  in  Bertha's  eyes  were 
much  more  impcjrtant,  but  convinced  as  she  was 
that  the  materiahstic  head  attendant  was  in- 
capable of  judging  of  the  value  and  im])<)rtance 
of  more  intellectual  pursuits,  she  saw  that  she 
had  no  choice  but  to  suffer  in  silence  and 
])atience. 

One  day  when  Sister  Ljung  as  usual  had 
])icked  her  up  ilertha  was  still  further  ex- 
as])erated  by  hnding  the  sewing  room  empty. 

"  Where  are  the  rest  of  the  attendants?"  she 
asked,  very  near  the  boiling  point. 

"They  had  to  darn  their  children's  socks," 
replied  Miss  Ljung  in  a  mildly  evasive  tone, 
"  and  they  [)referred  to  sit  in  their  rooms  and  do 
it." 

"  1  can  imagine  they  are  darning  socks,"  the 
poor  girl  hissed  within  herself,  her  exasperation 
becoming  acute  at  the  recollection  that  her  com- 
])ani()ns  that  afternoon  were  to  ha\e  a  little  coffee 
])arty  all  to  themselves.  .Vnd  here  she  had  to 
sit,  alone  and  forsaken,  with  this  terrible  woman, 
A\ith  her  mania  for  sewing!  Xo  wonder  Bertha 
went  to  work  with  bitter  thoughts  in  her  heart 
and  a  threatening  storm-cloud  on  her  brow  ! 

"  A  s.iinl  timid  lire  of  ibis  constant  mending 
(»f  rags,  rags,"  she  said  to  herself.  "  1  niight  as 
well  hand  in  my  resignation  first  as  last!     In  the 


NO    VICTORY    OVER    TEMPER.  63 

name  of  common  sense,  is  there  no  other  place 
where  I  can  stay  than  here  at  Johannesberg?" 

"What  cire  you  working  on?"  Miss  Ljung 
asked  mildly. 

"  Mending  a  pair  of  old  trousers,"  replied 
Bertha  with  extreme  disgust. 

But  the  head  attendant  was  undismayed.  She 
drew  closer  in  order  to  better  examine  the 
garment. 

"  My  dear  child,  what  is  this  like?"  she  said 
almost  sternly.  "  You  are  sewing  on  a  shirt 
sleeve  instead  of  a  trouser  leg  .  .  .  ." 

But  Bertha's  temper  was  already  boiling  over. 
"  You  are  the  most  unendurable  person  on  earth," 
she  sputtered  with  a  little  stamp  of  the  foot, 
"  to  force  a  poor  creature  to  this  disgusting 
work,  which  I  am  neither  used  to  nor  under- 
stand !" 

Sister  Ljung  stared  at  her  for  a  moment,  then 
went  and  sat  down  on  her  chair  by  the  sewing 
machine,  leaned  her  head  in  her  hands  and  burst 
into  tears.  Bertha's  temper  cooled  off  instantly ; 
she  felt  ashamed  and  humiliated. 

"  Why  do  you  cry?"  she  stammered  penitent- 
ly.    Please  don't  cry!     Forgive  me!" 

"  Oh,  child,"  sobbed  Miss  Ljung,  "  I  have  all 
this  time  that  you  have  hated  me  loved  you  with 
a  mother's' love  and  only  sought  your  welfare.  I 
have  sought  to  teach  you  that  for  a  Christian  no 
occupation  is  too  simi)le,  for  our  Savior  has  by 


64  HE,    HIMSELF    A    CARPENTER. 

His  example  honored  and  hallowed  labor.  We 
must  remember,  that  all  that  we  do  in  word  or 
deed  must  be  done  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  and 
to  His  glory.  He  does  not  look  at  the  greatness 
of  ovir  calling  but  at  our  faithfulness,  and  only 
by  conscientiously  accomplishing  the  least  as  well 
as  the  greatest  of  our  daily  tasks  do  we  prove 
oiu'selves  to  be  His  true  followers.  And  he  that 
is  not  faithful  in  the  least  will  never  be  entrusted 
with  anything  greater." 

From  that  day  Bertha  was  a  different  indi-. 
vidual  and  Sister  Ljung's  right  hand  in  the  work. 
No  one  could  be  more  willing  to  employ  every 
spare  moment  in  the  sewing  room,  and  no  one 
showed  greater  diligence  or  skill  there  than  she. 
P)Ut  it  was  not  with  altogether  pure  feelings  of 
ioy  that  her  companions  watched  the  change: 
One  day,  as  she  sat  by  the  dinner  table,  as  many 
as  possible  gathered  behind  her  chair  and  uttered 
cries  of  astonishment. 

"  To  think  that  it  has  gone  so  far  with  her 
already!"  said  some  in  hvished  tones. 

"  You  will  see  that  she  hasn't  a  long  time 
left,"  said  a  couple  of  others  as  if  with  sup- 
pressed tears. 

"  Yes,  she  is  too  good  for  this  sinful  world," 
sobbed  ihc  rest. 

liertha  laughed:  "What  are  you  fussing 
>bout?    What's  the  matter?" 

"  W'c  arc  not  fussing  at  all,"  rejjlied  one  with 


^  FOUR   CAREFREE  YEARS.  65 

mock  indignation.  "  We  are  simply  admiring 
your  quickly  sprouting  angel  wrings." 

"  But  why  this  flattering  and  touching  atten- 
tion just  today?"  queried  the  new-made  angel. 

"  Because  we  have  heard  that  Sister  Ljung  is 
going  away  on  her  summer  vacation  and  that  you 
in  her  absence  are  to  have  charge  of  the  sewings 


Four  years  Bertha  was  employed  as  attendant 
at  Johannesberg,  and  this  period  was  quite  happy 
and  carefree.  The  majority  of  the  feeble- 
minded were  in  good  health,  but  there  was  also 
an  invalid  department,  where  Death  at  times 
paid  his  visits.  However,  the  death-beds  at  which 
the  attendants  had  to  be  present  were  devoid  of 
horror  or  movn-ning.  These  invalids  as  a  rule 
had  no  idea  of  what  death  meant,  and  without 
anguish  or  fear  they  quietly  fell  asleep  to  awaken 
in  the  bright  land  where  no  longer  a  body 
ravaged  by  disease  should  stand  in  the  way  of 
their  spiritual  development ;  and  to  the  surviving 
relatives  their  departure  was  generally  a  relief, 
a  blessing  in  disguise.  Yet  some  of  these  chil- 
dren had  parents  who  loved  them  more  tenderly 
than  if  they  had  been  normal  children ;  and 
whether  these  feeble-minded  were  blessed  with 
a  handsome  form  or  were  deformed  in  the  ex- 
treme, they  were  their  parent's  darlings.  Yet, 
however  beloved  these  children  might  be,  there 


66  E\T.K   THEY    HAVE   A    MISSION. 

was  no  one  who  cared  to  hinder  their  s[)irit's 
flight  when  it  hnall}'  soared  to  a  fairer  and  better 
world.  Sometimes,  when  one  stood  contemplat- 
ing such  a  hnished  hfe,  the  thought  would  come 
to  one's  heart :  "What  purpose  has  this  child's 
hfe  served.''"  It  is  something  we  can  not  fully 
explain,  but  there  is  every  reason  to  believe 
that  it  served  some  purpose,  conscious  or  un- 
conscious. In  the  hrst  phice  it  seems  that  the 
veiy  sight  of  these  feeble-minded  ought  to  inspire 
every  normal  person  with  gratitude  to  God  for 
his  own  great  privileges.  And  in  the  second 
])lace,  if  these  unfortunates  had  been  born  normal, 
perhaps  they  would  not  have  employed  their  gifts 
lo  the  glory  of  the  Creator.  Was  it  not  then  a 
greater  grace  of  the  Lord  to  cast  a  \eil  over  their 
understanding  than  to  allow  them  to  use  it  in 
all  its  vigor  in  the  service  of  sin?  Oftentimes 
also  a  feeble-minded  child  is  a  punishment  and  a 
reprimand  for  the  sinful  life  of  the  parents. 
Thus  one  family,  in  which  both  the  father  and 
the  mother  were  drunkards,  had  furnished  the 
institutions  with  hve  sons,  all  of  whom  were 
hopeless  idiots.  Finally  the  hel])less  condition  of 
these  children  gave  both  attendants  and  relatives 
abundant  opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  patience 
in  the  ser\  ice  of  loxe.  Nor  is  the  work  among 
the  feeble-minded  of  less  im])ortance  than  the 
care  of  the  sick  and  unfortunate  with  normal 
minds. 


CKT'IIXG    KKADY    FOR    TliE     KINC.  6/ 

During  Sister  Bertha's  last  year  at  Johannes- 
berg-  a  new  king  ascended  the  throne  of  Sweden, 
and  the  new  ruler  made  the  customary  tour  of 
the  country.  He  visited  also  the  town  in  whose 
outskirts  Johannesberg  is  situated.  The  govern- 
or of  the  province  happened  to  be  a  warm  sup- 
porter of  the  institution  and  ])resident  of  the 
board  of  directors,  and  he  gave  us  an  inkling  that 
he,  with  King  Gustaf,  would  make  a  hasty  in- 
spection of  the  institution.  Accordingly  a  portal 
of  honor  was  raised  at  the  great  entrance,  and 
the  entire  personnel,  with  the  children  in  their 
holiday  attire,  were  lined  up  on  both  sides  of 
the  road.  Among  all  whose  brains  were  some- 
what developed,  there  was,  of  course,  intense 
excitement  at  the  prospect  of  something  so  grand 
as  to  behold  His  Royal  Majesty  at  close  quarters. 
Only  the  su]ierintendent,  who  during  her  study 
tour  had  been  granted  audiences  in  some  of  the 
royal  houses  of  Europe,  knew  that  the  king  was 
a  very  human  personality  and  not  so  altogether 
different  from  other  mortals.  Each  of  the  chil- 
dren had  ])icked  a  bouquet  of  wild  flowers  for  the 
pur])ose  of  strewing  them  in  the  king's  path  when 
he  arrived.  It  was  a  hot  summer's  day,  and 
poor  King  Gustaf  was  compelled  to  stand  for 
hours  on  the  market  place  listening  to  flowery 
speeches.  Among  others  there  was  a  very  con- 
ceited school  teacher  who  was  determined  at  any 
cost  to  shake  hands  with  the  king.     He  had  pre- 


<38  THE   WITHERED   FLOWERS. 

pared  a  little  speech,  but  he  got  off  in  the  very 
beginning,  and  could  only  stammer:  "Mister 
King!"  Anyhow,  the  no  less  loving  subjects  at 
Johannesberg  had  to  stand  and  wait  for  the 
monarch  for  full  two  hours.  In  the  meantime 
the  flowers  wilted  and  faded.  But  when  finally 
the  high  guest  arrived  the  suspense  was  at  an 
end,  and  it  was  doubtful  if  King  Gustaf  ever 
met  with  a  more  impulsive  and  ceremonious  re- 
ception than  was  tendered  him  on  this  occasion. 
Nearly  every  one  of  the  children  extended  their 
hands  to  him  with  the  wildest  enthusiasm^  giving 
him  the  most  cordial  handshakes.  But  before  he 
could  shake  hands  with  them  they  had,  of  course, 
to  be  relieved  of  the  poor  dead  flowers  which 
they  were  eager  to  present  to  him.  That  the 
Avithered  greens,  were  to  be  placed  under  his  feet 
and  not  in  his  hands  they  had  long  since  for- 
gotten. But  no  one  need  think  that  the  king 
frowned  on  the  meager  token  of  ]o\e  or  allowed 
even  one  flower  to  fall  to  the  ground.  On  the 
contraiy  he  looked  as  glad  and  api)reciative  as 
if  they  had  presented  him  with  the  most  beautiful 
roses,  and  at  last,  when  he  returned  with  the 
governor  to  his  automobile,  he  had  his  arms  full 
of  daisies,  bluel)ottles,  and  forget-me-nots,  which 
he  took  along  with  him  on  his  journey.  And 
when  the  king  of  Sweden  did  not  despi.se  or 
rejccl  the  demonstration  of  the  feeble-minded 
(liildren,   how   much    more   tender   must   be   the 


"  MY  BOUQUET  TOO,   PAPA."  6^ 

heart  of  the  King  df  kings"! '  How  often  we  feel 
downhearted  and  sad  because,  our  sacrifice  of 
love  to  the  Lord  is  so  insignificent  and  unworthy ! 
Rut  if  it  really  is  the  best  of  which  we  are  capable, 
we  can  feel  asured  that  He  will  never  disdain  our 
service  of  love  to  Him. 

:  Something  analogous  to  this  royal  conde- 
scendence is  related  of  a  gentleman  who  one  day 
returned  to  his  home  after  an  extended  trip.  He 
was  the  happy  father  of  two  bright  boys,  but  he 
had  also  a  little  girl  who  was  feeble-minded.  The 
two  normal  children  had  each  picked  a  bouquet 
of  beautiful,  fragrant  flowers,  which  they  pre- 
sented to  their  father.  Their  little  unfortunate 
sister  tried  to  imitate  them  and  held  out  a  little 
bundle  of  sticks  and  straw,  saying :  "  Take  my 
bouquet  too,  Papa !"  With  tears  in  his  eyes  the 
father  pressed  her  to  his  heart  and  tenderly 
placed  her  sticks  in  a  flower  vase  on  his  desk. 
The  little  girl  did  what  she  could  to  show  her 
love  for  her  father,  and  he  was  not  slow  to  ap- 
preciate it. 

"  Let  the  little  ones  come  unto  Me !" 
Said  theSavior,  "and  hinder  them  not! 

For  in  heaven  my  F'ather  they  see. 
And  on  earth,  too,  not  one  is  forgot." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

SHE  STARTS  OUT  ON  HER 
MISSIONARY  CAREER. 

"  But  Jonathan  how  is  it  that  you  never  take 
time  for  prayer  meeting  and  so  seldom  seem  in- 
terested in  religious  things  ?  At  times  I  even 
feel  as  if  you  were  not  a  Christian,  and  this  un- 
certaint}'  is  day  by  day  getting  harder  and 
heavier." 

*'  Bertha,  Bertha,  what  is  the  use  of  taking 
e\erything  so  dreadfully  serious?  Suppose  I 
am  unable  to  measure  up  fully  to  the  common 
])ractical  type,  what  are  you  going  to  do  about  it? 
Throw  me  over?" 

"  You,  an  editor  of  a  religious  paper,  not 
being  a  true  Christian,"  she  said,  not  without  a 
certain  coldness  in  her  \oice.  "  Then  you  would 
be  nothing  less  than  a  humbug,  a  deceiver  of  the 
l^ublic."  "  Really,  you  must  not  worry  your  dear 
head  on  that  account,"  he  ])rotested  smilingly,  "  I 
assure  vou,  my  dear  brother  Per  supplies  the 
])aper  with  all  tlie  religion  that  is  needed." 

"  Well,  there  is  at  least  one  thing  which  I 
now  am  more  able  to  decide,"  the  girl  said  in  a 
--onicwliat  milder  tone,  "and  that  is.  that  the 
la-t  hindrance  for'  my  outgoing  as  a  missionary 
i>  taken  awa_\-.  ( iod  willing.  I  shall  resign  my 
po>ition  in  the  bos|>ilal  today  and  lca\e  for  Lap- 
70 


UNEQUALLY    YOKI-.D  TOGETllEK.  "Jl 

land,  the  Artie  Circle,  on  the  first  of  next 
month."  "  Child,  you  are  out  of  your  mind. 
Surely  you  must  understand  there  is  no  sense  in 
such  a  sudden  decision,"  he  exclaimed,  "  at  least 
there  is  no  use  of  any  further  planning  till  I  ha\  e 
had  chance  to  speak  to  the  prince  about  your 
outlooks  in  the  mountains.  You  know  just  as 
well  as  I  do  that  he  is  quite  an  important  factor 
in  the  different  missionary  branches  for  Lapland. 
No  one  can  give  you  better  advice  than  he  can 
in  regard  to  your  work  there :  and  do  I  need  to 
remind  you  of  your  promise  to  become  my  wife 
in  case  he  should  advise  you  not  to  go?  As  a 
sincere  Christian  you  must  look  upon  a  promise 
like  that  as  entirely  too  sacred  to  break,  especially 
as  you  knew  that  my  life  and  eternal  happiness- 
depends  on  it."  "  No,  Jonathan,  I  do  not  con- 
sider my  promise  as  binding.  You  know  full 
well,  I  gave  it  thinking  that  you  were  a  true-blue 
Christian.  The  Word  of  (lod  forbids  me  to 
bind  myself  to  an  unbeliever.  There  would  come 
no  good,  neither  for  you  or  me,  out  of  a  marriage 
in  direct  o]iposition  to  God's  ])lainly  spoken  will. 
As  to  the  ])rince,  haven't  I  for  weeks  been  wait- 
ing for  you  to  speak  to  him  in  regard  to  my 
plans?  Finally  when  you  seemed  to  keep  on 
postponing  the  matter  indefinitely,  what  could  I 
do  bvtt  go  ahead  and  write  to  him  myself?" 

"  Oh,  of  course  not !     How  could   I   expect 
you   to    consider   me    and   my    feelings    in    the 


J 2  THE  PARTING  OF  ROADS. 

matter?"  retorted  the  man  bitterly,  "that  once 
you  seemed  to  care  for  me  a  little  .  .  .  ." 

"  Please,  Jonathan,  be  reasonable,"  interrupt- 
ed the  girl  pleadingly,  "  do  not  make  our  parting- 
harder  than  it  is  already.  If  you  are  honest,  you 
will  easily  see  that  our  interests  and  views  of 
life  are  entirely  too  different  to  make  us  suitable 
for  each  other.  Besides,  the  Lord  has  so  clearly 
called  me  to  go  to  the  mission  held  that  I  would 
under  no  circumstances  dare  to  withdraw. 
Yesterday  I  had  a  lengthy  visit  from  the  prince's 
private  secretar}%  and  through  her  I  obtained  all 
the  information  and  advice  I  have  need  of.  I 
have  also,  during  the  last  few  weeks,  repeatedly 
been  visited  by  the  pastor  of  our  church ;  and  he 
not  only  encourages  me,  but  has  offered  help  and 
assistance  in  even'  possible  way.  You  see  I  am 
going  out  as  the  Aery  first  missionary  of  our 
congregation."  She  stopped  and  looked  at  him 
beseechingly,  "  You  must  understand  that  I  can 
not  do  otherwise,"  she  continued,  "why  can  not 
}ou  then  become  resigned  to  the  inevitable? 
Why  may  we  not  part  as  friends?" 

"  Yes,  let  us  at  least  remain  friends,"  he  said 
deeply  moved,  "  and  do  not  forget  to  pray  for 
me.  Believe  me,  1  would  like  to  share  your 
childlike  faith  if  I  only  could." 

Sc\eii  Nc.'irs  later  it  came  to  pass  that  Sister 
r.citlia   conducted   some   missionary  meetings  in 


A    PLEASANT   SURPRISE.  73 

4he  city  of  Toronto,  Canada;  and  after  a  Sunday 
Jiight  meeting  a  lady  missionary  from  Mongolia 
came  and  introduced  herself.  "  When  I  was  in 
-Mongolia,"  she  said,  "  I  worked  together  with 
one  of  your  country  women.  She  had  a  brother 
who  was  editor  for  a  large  Swedish  Daily,  and 
-a  few  years  ago  in  behalf  of  his  paper,  he  made 
a  trip  to  the  different  missioary  fields.  In  due 
course  he  also  arrived  at  our  station  to  visit  his 
.sister." 

"  I  used  to  know  him  quite  well,"  Bertha  said, 
"  and  for  years  I  prayed  daily  for  the  salvation 
•of  his  soul." 

"  Then  you  may  thank  the  Lord  for  granting 
your  prayers,"  the  Mongolia  missionary  replied, 
"  I  have  just  received  the  good  news  from  my 
•co-worker  that  her  brother  has  finally  been  con- 
verted, and  that  just  now  he  is  preparing  to 
marry  a  missionary  M'hom  he  got  acquainted  with 
while  in  India." 

"  How  like  my  Father  that  is,"  exclaimed 
the  heavenly  princess  delightedly,  "  He  does  not 
only  answer  my  prayers,  but  he  also  gives  me  the 
most  pleasing  and  welcome  surprises." 

On  the  first  day  of  March  in  the  year  of  1913, 
she  started  out  for  Lapland,  her  heart  yearning 
for  the  neglected  nomade  people  of  this  extra- 
<)rdinary  land  of  snow  and  ice.  Lapland  is  as 
30U  may  know,  the  land  of  the  Laplanders  and 


74  LONELY  AND  HOMESICK. 

the  reindeers,  the  land  of  winter,  the  land  of  the 
long  night,  and  the  land  of  the  niidnightsun.  On 
her  way  to  the  mountains  of  perpetual  snow, 
she  stopped  for  a  while  in  a  small  city  of  the 
Northland.  From  this  city  as  her  headquarters, 
she  made  daily  trips  to  the  surrounding  country 
places.  She  went  from  house  to  house,  spreading 
good  Christian  literature  and  talking  to  every 
one  she  met  concerning  the  welfare  of  their 
souls.  She  loved  to  visit  the  hospitals  and  the 
poorhouses,  and  was  very  happy  when  she  had 
the  great  privilege  and  honor  to  lead  some  poor, 
restless  soul  to  Jesus,  the  wonderful  haven  of 
peace  and  joy  unspeakable.  Yet,  one  early  after- 
noon as  she  was  sitting  in  a  little  cabin  at  the 
foot  of  the  snow-clad  Lapland  mountains,  she 
felt  strangely  unhappy  and  discouraged.  To  tell 
the  truth  she  was  homesick  and  lonely,  sorely 
longing  to  go  back  to  the  "  fleshpots  of  Egypt" — 
her  com])aritively  ea.sy  position  at  the  large  hos- 
])ital  in  .Stockhcjlm,  the  Ca])itol  of  Sweden.  Per- 
hai)s  the  real  reason  to  this  somewhat  sudden  at- 
tack of  homesickness,  was  a  short  beseeching 
note  that  she  had  just  received:  "  Your  Jonathan 
is  sitting  on  the  ])arliament  balcony  with  ])en  and 
notebook  before  him:  but,  Bertha  dear,  it  is  not 
an  easy  thing  to  follow  the  longwinded  speeches 
1)\  the  congressmen  with  you  so  lio])elessl}'  far 
away.  l>efore  my  inner  eyes  1  see  you,  oh,  so- 
dearl)-,  and  over  and  over  again  I  am  asking  my- 


IN  DOUBT  AND  DARKNESS.  75 

self,  "  Will  she  not  soon  tire  of  her  self-chosen 
-departation  to  the  Lapland  regions?  And  will 
not  the  longing  of  my  heart  at  last  draw  her 
homewards  once  more?" 

"  Self-chosen,"  she  repeated  to  herself  in 
heart-rending  anguish,  "  oh,  if  I  only  knew  that 
I  was  really  and  fully  in  the  will  of  God,  how 
satisfied  and  happy  would  not  I  be:  but,  how 
terrible,  if  it  should  be  proven  that  I  have  gone 
my  own  self -chosen  way."  Just  as  she  was  sit- 
ting like  this,  inwardly  groaning  and  praying  for 
guidance,  she  seemed  to  hear  a  small  voice  in 
form  of  an  unresistable  impression,  "  Stand  up 
and  go  at  once  to  BoUnas."  The  impression  on 
her  mind  was  so  strong  that  she  arose  immediate- 
ly and  began  to  study  the  time  table  on  the  wall. 
Seeing  that  the  train  for  Bollnas  would  leave  in 
less  than  an  hour,  she  hurriedly  gathered  her  bag- 
gage t(jgether  and  rushed  down  to  the  railroad 
station.  After  having  purchased  her  ticket,  she 
walked  utterl\-  irresolute  up  and  down  on  the 
]ilatform :  "  If  I  onl}-  this  once  clearly  see  that 
the  Lord  is  leading  me,"  she  said  to  herself,  "  I 
will  then  understand  that  I  am  on  His  way  and 
in  His  will,  and  never  be  restless  and  unsatisfied 
again." 

A  few  hours  later,  after  her  arrival  in  Bollnas, 
she  walked  down  the  main  street  without  know- 
ing where  to  go  or  what  to  do.  x\fter  a  while  she 
reachetl   a   church,   and   as   the   doors    for   some 


/O-  "  HE  LEADETII  ME." 

reason  were  open  she  stepped'  inside,  kneeling;- 
before  the  Lord  in  prayer,  "  Open,  oh  Father,,, 
my  eyes  and  my  ears,"  she  pleaded,  "that  I  may 
see  and  hear  Thy  will  as  the  disciples  of  old." 
While  praying  like  this,  the  pastor,  whose  res- 
idence was  on  the  second  floor  in  the  church 
building,  came  down  stairs,  and  when  he  saw  her, 
dressed  as  she  was  in  a  Swedish  Red-Cross  uni- 
form, his  face  lit  up  of  happy  surprise.  "Are 
you  a  nurse  or  a  deaconess?"  he  asked  excitedly.. 

"  I  am  both,"  Sister  Bertha  said,  somewhat: 
astonished  at  his  manners. 

"  God  must  have  sent  you  here  in  answer 
to  our  prayers,"  he  said  with  conviction.  Then- 
he  told  her  how  the  elders  in  the  congregation 
had  prayed  for  a  nurse  to  be  sent  them.  "  We 
have  for  several  weeks  held  revival  meetings,  and- 
last  night,  just  at  the  close  of  the  service,  our 
evangelist  became  sick  unto  death ;  and  today- 
after  he  had  suffered  from  a  hemmorhage  of  the 
stomach,  we  were  frantically  trying  to  get  hold 
of  a  suitable  nurse.  Having  failed  in  our  efforts 
lo  locate  one,  we  arranged  a  special  prayer  meet- 
ing about  the  matter.  'I'liis  was  half  ])ast  twelve,, 
and  here  already  is  the  answer." 

The  young  missionary  sister  felt  a  great  peace- 
and  happiness  surging  through  her  whole  being. 
"It  was  half  past  twelve  when  I  got  the  God- 
given  inspiration  to  come  here,"  she  said  (|uietly, 
"and,  niy  dv.w  i)astor,  you  can  not   imagine  how 


"  THY  WILL,  O,  GOD."  "JJ , 

much  this  means  to  me,  because  now  I  know  be- 
yond all  doubt  that  I  am  really  and  truly  lead  by 
God.  '  He  leadeth  me  beside  the  still  waters. 
He  restoreth  my  soul:  He  leadeth  me  in  the 
paths  of  righteousness  for  His  name's  sake.'. 
Knowing  this  what  does  a  few  trials  and  disap- 
pointments signify  compared  to  the  exceeding 
great  joy  of  being  in  the  fullness  of  His  will  as 
a  whole  sacrifice  on  His  altar?" 

The  evangelist  was  indeed  very  sick,  and  for 
several  weeks  Sister  Bertha  watched  over  him 
with  indefatigueable  solicitude.  He  was  a  man, 
who  from  his  earliest  youth  had  given  himself 
wholeheartedly  in  the  Master's  service.  With 
his  bodily  and  spiritual  powers  strained  to  the 
uttermost,  he  used  to  work  as  if  he  thought  that 
God  would  hardly  be  able  to  do  without  him; 
and  then,  after  a  strenous  evangelizing  work,  he 
was  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  put  aside. 
At  this,  however,  he  most  violently  rebelled. 
"  The  harvest  is  plenteous  and  the  laborers  are 
few,"  he  complained  greatly  displeased,  "  and 
here  I  am  more  than  willing  to  do  His  work,  yet, 
I  am  placed  in  utter  inactivity."  Slowly,  after 
repeated  relapses  and  short  intervals  of  active 
work,  he  finally  became  resigned,  having  accepted 
God's  call  to  a  higher  work — that  of  an  interces- 
sory missionary  for  a  whole  world.  During  the 
four  weeks,  as  Sister  Bertha  ministered  at  his 
sickbed,  his  meekness  had  such  a  good  influence 


78  THE  KIND  BISHOP. 

on  her  naturally  excitable  temperament  that  with- 
in a  short  time,  she  also  began  to  learn  the  "  A. 
B.  C.  "  on  this  most  difficult  lesson  to  be  STILL 
before  God,  not  to  be  in  too  great  a  hurry  and 
thus  forego  God's  plans,  but  to  WAIT  ON  HIM, 
under  every  circumstance  assured  that  HE 
KNOWS  BEST. 

"  He  leadeth  me !  O  blessed  tho't ! 

O  words  with  heav'nly  comfort  fraught! 

What'er  I  do,  where'er  I  be, 

Still  'tis  God's  hand  that  leadeth  me." 

After  this  healthful  and  educational  interlude, 
our  heavenly  princess  was  once  more  on  her  way 
to  the  mountains  of  Lapland.  In  order  to  get 
Bibles  in  the  language  of  the  Laplanders,  she 
had  to  stop  over  in  Lulea,  the  most  beautiful  city 
of  the  Northland.  In  Lulea  was  the  Consistory 
of  the  Lutheran  State  Church  and  here  the 
Bishop  resided,  the  Bishop  being  the  translator  of 
the  Bible  into  the  Lap  language.  The  stately  Bish- 
op and  his  charming  wife  received  her  at  their 
mansion  with  such  sincere  heartiness  that  she  had 
no  difficulty  in  stating  her  errand.  "  You  may 
have  all  the  Bibles  you  desire,"  the  Bishop  assent- 
ed, "only  stay  and  visit  with  us  a  little  while."  He 
was  the  author  of  a  great  literary  masterpiece, 
with  innumerable  views  from  the  mountains  and 
fine  descriptive  narratives,  and  while  the  lady  of 
the  mansion  with  her  own  hand  arranged  the  tea- 


IN  THE  ARCTIC  CIRCLE.  79 

table,  he  showed  his  guest  the  photographic 
pieces  of  art  of  which  he  himself  was  the  master. 
"  Olof  is  entirely  too  proud  of  his  Lapland  pic- 
tures," smiled  the  wife,  "  but  perhaps  it  is  ex- 
cusable, when  you  know  all  the  hardships  he  has 
gone  through  for  their  sake  while  traveling  in 
those  dangerous  mountains."  "  Sister  Bertha 
may  be  sure  that  I  am  not  half  as  proud  over  my 
little  tribute  to  humanity  as  she  is  over  her  newly 
baked  tea  biscuits,"  said  the  Bishop  laughingly, 
"  and  who  knows  but  your  admiration  will  be 
transferred  to  her  after  you  have  tasted  them." 
After  a  happy  little  visit,  he  finally  gave  her 
a  letter  of  introduction  to  the  officers  of  the 
Consistory,  instructing  them  to  hand  over  to  her 
without  charge  any  amount  of  Bibles.  And  so, 
only  a  few  hours  later.  Sister  Bertha  continued 
on  her  way  towards  the  Arctic  regions,  having 
her  suitcases  well  filled  with  heavy  Bibles.  Jock- 
mock  and  Kvickjock  were  indeed  worthy  of  the 
honor  of  being  called  "  The  Paradise  of  Lap- 
land," and  here  our  princess  experienced  some 
of  the  happiest  days  in  her  missionary  career. 
Jockmock  and  Kvickjock  were  two  valleys,  both 
surrounded  of  majsetic,  snowcovered  Lapland 
mountains.  Jockmock  was  the  headquarters  of 
the  Lutheran  minister  and  supervisor  of  this 
special  Lapland  district.  Sister  Bertha  had  never 
met  a  more  amiable  couple  than  pastor  Ahlfort 
and    his    warm-hearted    wife,    "Auntie    Lina.'* 


8o  A   LAPLAND   IDYL. 

Never  had  she  viewed  a  home  more  charming 
than  the  white-painted  parsonage.  Never  had 
the  homemade  bread,  fresh-churned  butter  and 
the  rich,  warm  cow  milk  tasted  better  than  here 
in  the  clean,  high  mountain  air.  She  realized, 
however,  that  her  career  in  Lapland  would  not 
always  be  so  agreeable  as  this." 

Lapland,  the  land  of  the  reindeer,  the  sledge 
and  the  fjord,  forms  the  northern  part  of  Nor- 
way, Sweden,  Russia  and  Finland,  bounded  on 
the  north  by  the  Arctic  Ocean,  and  on  the  north- 
west by  the  broad  Atlantic.  Its  dwellers  number 
some  thirty  thousand,  the  larger  number  of  whom 
are  in  Norwegian  Lapland.  They  are  divided 
into  three  families,  generally  named  Sea  Lapps, 
River  Lapps,  and  Forest  or  Mountain  Lapps, 
the  latter  being  the  poorest  and  most  nomadic, 
living  almost  entirely  in  tents. 

The  Lapps  are  a  quiet,  inoffensive  people,  not 
warlike  or  pushing,  with  the  result  that  they  are 
unable  to  hold  their  own  or  even  preserve  their 
nationality,  but  are  gradually  being  swallowed 
up  in  greater  and  stronger  nations.  Their 
country  is  wild  and  mostly  uninhabitable,  yet  it 
has  its  beauties.  Norwegian  Lapland  is  very 
mountainous,  its  coast  line  cleft  by  hundreds  of 
narrow  fjords.  Swedish  Lapland  is  full  of  nar- 
row valleys  with  long  lakes,  while  Russian  Lap- 
land abounds  in  large  forests  of  spruce  and  fir. 
The    winter    is    long    and    excessively    cold,    the 


THE   MIDNIGHT-SUN.  8l 

thermometer  frequently  registering  sixty  degrees 
of  frost.  It  is  no  great  wonder  that  many  of  the 
people  in  their  inhospitable  dwellings  suffer  ex- 
treme privation,  and  that  many  perish  from  the 
severity  of  the  frost  and  cold.  On  September 
2.2.,  the  sun  descends  to  the  horizon,  where  it  rests 
all  day,  then  disappears  the  day  following,  to  be 
seen  no  more  till  March  22  next  year.  Some- 
times the  splendid  orb  appears  of  a  deep-red 
color,  tinging  everything  with  a  roseate  hue,  pro- 
ducing on  the  observer  a  drowsy  effect.  At 
certain  times  it  is  like  a  charcoal  fire  burning 
with  a  fierce  red  glow,  then  fading  away  and 
rekindling  with  greater  brightness.  At  other 
times  it  looks  white  and  pale,  and  presents  a 
cold  appearance,  so  that  it  may  be  looked  at  with 
the  naked  eye.  Toward  the  end  of  July  the  sun 
never  sets.  About  eleven  o'clock  p.  m.  the  color 
of  the  clouds  begins  to  change  to  a  golden  tint, 
a  warning  that  the  midnight  hour  is  near  and 
sunset  close  at  hand.  Soon  they  become  a  fiery 
red,  and,  while  for  a  brief  moment  the  sun  seems 
hid  from  view,  they  gradually  become  brighter 
as  if  new  life  had  been  infused  into  them,  and 
so  indeed  they  are,  for  the  rising  sun  has  now 
tinged  their  lines,  and  the  new-born  day  has 
dawned — the  evening  and  the  morning  twilight 
being  blended  in  one. 

As  we   think  of   this  wonderful   phenomena 
of  the  far  North  we  remember  the  words  spoken 


82  LIFE  AMONG  THE  LAPPS. 

by  the  prophet  concerning  God's  earthly  people 
in  a  coming  day,  "  The  sun  shall  no  more  go 
down  ....  for  the  Lord  shall  be  thine  ever- 
lasting light"  (Isa.  60:20),  and  the  still  more 
glowing  words  of  the  seer  in  Patmos,  who  in  his 
lonely  exile  saw  the  Golden  City — the  Eternal 
Home  of  God's  redeemed  people — and  tells  us 
concerning  it — "  The  city  had  no  need  of  the 
sun  neither  the  moon  to  shine  in  it,  for  the  glory 
of  God  did  lighten  it,  and  the  Lamb  is  the  light 
thereof  "  (Rev.  21 :  23).  Who  would  not  desire 
to  dwell  in  these  holy  and  beautiful  regions? 

Life  among  the  Lapps  has  little  variation. 
From  youth  to  old  age  it  is  the  same  monotonous 
round,  and  there  is  little  desire  or  hope  for  any- 
thing different.  Worst  of  all,  there  is  no  bright 
hope  in  the  life  beyond.  To  very,  very  few  has 
the  gospel  brought  its  joy  and  peace,  its  present 
posession  of  eternal  life  and  prospect  of  future 
glory.  Indeed,  few  of  them  have  yet  heard  its 
message.  Churches  they  have  in  some  places, 
with  state-appointed  "  priests,"  who,  as  a  rule, 
are  as  ignorant  of  God  and  Christ  and  the  gospel 
as  the  people,  and  thus  generation  after  genera- 
tion live  and  die  and  pass  into  the  eternal  world. 
O,  that  soon  the  light  of  the  glorious  gospel  of 
Christ  may  shine  in  its  brightness,  bringing  life, 
light,  and  liberty  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  of 
the  reindeer  and  the  fjord. 

The  Lapps  are  said  to  be  the  shortest  people 


LAPPS,   NOT  VERY  GOODLOOKING.  83 

in  Europe,  although  this  is  not  so  general  as  is 
supposed.  They  have  short  legs,  mostly  bandid, 
long  bodies,  and  are  not  particularly  smart  in 
their  movements.  Their  skin  is  of  a  yellow  or 
copper  color,  but  much  of  this  is  due  to  the 
smoke  in  which  they  are  so  constantly  enveloped, 
and  which  they  seldom  take  the  trouble  to  wash 
off  their  skins.  Their  faces  present  a  wrinkled 
and  puckered  appearance,  possibly  due  to  con- 
stant exposure  and  to  the  excessive  variations  of 
summer  heat  and  winter  cold.  They  seem  to 
become  prematurely  old,  although  many  of  them 
live  to  a  great  age.  They  have  dark,  sharp  eyes, 
not  obliquely  set,  thick,  short  hair,  almost  bristly, 
scanty  beards,  large  mouths  and  thick  lips  almost 
like  the  negro.  The  family  character  is  very 
striking.  A  Lapp  father  has  entire  control  of  all 
his  affairs,  and  at  his  death  the  authority  passes 
to  the  eldest  son.  If  any  of  the  sons  separate 
from  the  family  or  marry  without  his  father's 
consent,  he  receives  no  share  of  the  father's 
property  except  a  gun.  The  appearance  and 
dress  of  the  Lapps  vary  according  to  their 
station,  although  are  somewhat  alike.  In  sum- 
mer the  tourist  will  find  a  river  Laplander  ready 
to  guide  him,  dressed  in  a  grey  blouse  of  wollen 
material,  with  undergarment  to  match  wollen 
cap,  leather  leggins,  leather  pouch  on  his  back  to 
hold  food,  and  birch  staff  seven  feet  long.  The 
female  costume  is  much  the  sa¥ne,   the  blouse 


84  THE  LAPLANDERS'  DRESS. 

being  longer  and  open  at  the  neck :  but  the  forest 
or  mountain  Lapp  is  very  much  worse  in  his 
outfit  than  those  described. 

The  first  bona-fide  Laplander  I  met  was  a 
moving  heap  of  rags  and  dirt.  He  was  a  very 
fair  average  specimen  of  his  countrymen.  About 
four  feet  six  inches  in  height,  his  face  and  hands 
absolutely  grimed  with  dirt,  he  wore  a  peculiar 
sort  of  a  hat,  not  unlike  the  headpiece  that 
Britanna  wears  on  the  English  penny  made  of 
black  cloth,  with  the  stiff,  four-cornered  flat  piece 
above,  and  stripped  from  corner  to  corner  with 
red  or  yellow.  His  long  uncombed  hair  fell 
some  way  down  over  a  tunic  of  reindeer-skin 
that  reached  to  his  knees,  and  a  broad  leather 
belt  of  skin  was  fastened  round  his  loins.  This 
strip  of  skin  is  scarcely  ever  properly  cured,  so 
its  odor  is  frequently  bad,  and,  worse  still,  it  be 
comes  a  lodgingplace  for  much  that  for  health's 
sake  the  man  would  be  better  without. 

A  pair  of  thin,  wrinkled  hands,  like  eagle's 
claws,  protruded  from  his  sleeves,  and  his  thin, 
bowed  legs  were  tightly  cased  in  dirty  white 
cloth,  probably  the  production  of  his  wife's 
spindle.  The  feet  were  disproportionately  large, 
and  he  wore  big  leather  shoes  turned  up  at  the 
points,  and  very  wide  at  the  ankle  and  instep. 
They  were  stuffed  full  of  dry  hay,  and  bound 
round  several  inches  up  the  leg  with  a  thong  of 
colored  leather  or  skin.    These  shoes  are  a  good 


A   CIVILIZED  LAPP.  85 

protection  against  the  cold;  but  they  do  not  last 
long,  six  months  being  the  average  wear  of  a 
pair.  They  are  made  of  reindeer  skin,  all  of  a 
piece  in  the  tops,  while  the  soles  are  composed 
of  two  discs  of  the  same  substance  attached  to 
the  bottom  of  the  foot,  one  under  the  heel,  the 
other  under  the  toe.  As  may  be  guessed,  the 
Laplander  in  these  conditions  is  neither  a  stately 
figure  nor  a  good  walker.  Indeed,  he  is  a  queer 
little  chap,  with  his  ugly,  slouching  hat,  from 
under  which  there  peers  a  pair  of  black,  piercing 
eyes,  which  at  the  first  glance,  would  seem  to 
indicate  that  he  is  capable  of  any  villainy.  This 
is  not  far  from  being  a  just  estimate  of  the 
average  Lapp,  who  usually  is  a  mean,  greedy 
being,  just  as  opposite  as  can  be  from  the  tall, 
fair,  and  magnanimous  Swede  and  Norwegian, 
his  near  neighbors.  Yet  many  a  Lapp  is  a  pleas- 
ing contrast  to  this  dark  picture.  Where  the 
gospel  has  penetrated,  or  even  the  civilizing  ef- 
fects of  contact  with  true  Christians,  a  better 
condition  of  things  is  to  be  seen. 

On  board  a  steamer  bound  for  Vadso  and 
the  extreme  North,  I  met  a  native  of  Lapland  of 
a  wholly  different  sort,  and  was  so  struck  with 
his  clean  appearance  and  mannerly  behavior  that 
I  feel  like  giving  a  description  of  him.  He  was 
a  servant  of  a  Norwegian  on  a  surveying  expedi- 
tion, and  was  evidently  of  a  better  class  than  the 
ordinary  Lapp.     Considerably  above  the  average 


86  THE  NEED  OF  WORKERS. 

height,  clean  washed,  and  of  good  appearance; 
his  face  being  a  striking  contrast  to  the  generally 
haggard,  unhealthy,  and  unclean  visage  of  his 
countrymen,  he  was  dressed  in  a  rough,  home- 
spun tunic  of  coarse  white  material,  with  stripes 
of  bright  red  and  yellow  across  from  shoulder  to 
shoulder,  four  more  of  the  same  reaching  half- 
way down  his  back,  with  a  large  knife  or  bill- 
hook hanging  from  his  side.  He  moved  about 
smartly,  was  pleasant  and  courteous,  and  evident- 
ly a  good  servant.  He  was  intelligent  too,  for 
with  his  Dwn  hand,  without  the  use  of  insru- 
ments  or  books  of  any  kind,  he  had  drawn  out  a 
map  of  the  country,  giving  distances,  positions  of 
mountains  and  towns. 

This  shows  that  the  Lapp,  like  most  other 
nationalities,  may  be  taught  the  ordinary  laws  of 
health  and  duty,  and,  when  brought  into  contact 
with  more  civilized  and  intelligent  beings  made 
to.  live  in  harmony  with  them.  Most  important 
of  all,  it  reminds  us  that  the  Lapp  is  a  human 
being,  with  a  living  soul,  and  may,  under  the 
teaching  of  the  Word  of  God,  learn  the  power 
of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  Of  all  the  needs  of 
Lapland  the  gospel  is  the  greatest.  The  only 
thing  that  will  bring  true  and  lasting  blessings- 
to  that  lonely  and  dreary  land  and  its  dwellers 
is  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  through  Jesus 
Christ,  brought  to  them  in  their  own  tongue  bjr 
men  and  women  whose  hearts  are  warm  with 


'I  UK    TKNT  OF  THE  LAPP.  87 

the  love  of  Christ,  and  who,  for  His  name's  sake, 
have  forsaken  home  and  kindred  to  bring  the 
gospel's  joyful  sound  to  this  far-off  and  long 
neglected  race.  May  the  Lord  hasten  the  time 
when  among  Lapland's  huts  and  tents  the  joyful 
sound  will  be  heard,  and  when  in  the  land  of  the 
midnight  sun,  the  song  of  salvation  shall  echo 
from  hill  to  valley,  from  the  lips  of  Lapland's 
fur-clad  dwellers  who  love  the  Savior's  name. 

The  tents  of  the  Lapps  are  by  no  means  im- 
posing. The  inside  is  generally  devoid  of  furni- 
ture, an  occasional  bench  being  the  only  excep- 
tion. An  open  fire  in  the  middle  of  the  tent 
serves  as  heat  and  light,  and  during  the  long 
winter  it  is  kept  burning  day  and  night.  The 
smoke  is  supposed  to  ascend  and  find  an  exit  by 
a  hole  in  the  top,  but  it  more  frequently  lingers 
in  the  dwelling,  causing  those  within  to  resemble 
brown  or  black-skinned  nations.  How  the  people 
can  sleep  in  the  continual  smoke  is  a  mystery,  but 
they  do  and  seem  to  feel  no  inconvenience  either. 
The  beds  are  of  dried  and  generally  dirty  grass, 
the  blankets  of  sheepskin  or  reindeerskin.  Some- 
times they  sleep  in  a  sack,  made  from  the  skin 
of  the  reindeer.  The  children  when  young  are 
fastened  in  a  strange  sort  of  cradle  in  which  they 
may  be  carried  if  occasion  so  r&  {uires,  and  when 
able  to  walk  they  are  allowed  to  run  around 
almost  naked.  Sleighing  is  the  principle  means 
•of   locomotion   in   Lapland.      The   sledge   is   in 


88  THE  REINDEER-SLEDGE. 

shape  somewhat  Hke  a  baby's  cradle  or  runners, 
with  just  enough  room  to  sit  with  your  legs  at 
full  length.  It  is  made  of  wood,  and  to  it  are 
harnessed  the  reindeer.  It  requires  some  art  to 
sit  in  one — more  still  to  drive.  The  reindeer  are 
not  easily  managed  nor  so  good-tempered  as  you 
might  suppose  them  to  be.  When  they  are  over- 
driven or  kept  long  without  food  it  is  no  un- 
common thing  for  them  to  turn  around  and  butt 
the  driver.  It  is  no  use  "  reasoning "  or  even 
using  the  whip  on  such  occasions,  the  only  way 
of  escape  is  to  step  out  from  the  sledge  and  wait 
until  the  angry  animals  have  vented  their  rage 
upon  it.  Then  they  will  resume  their  journey  as 
if  nothing  had  happened.  These  reindeers  have 
tremendous  horns,  and  it  is  decidedly  best  not 
to  be  too  near  them  when  they  are  out  of  temper. 
In  the  winter,  when  everything  is  bound  hard 
and  fast  in  snow  and  frost,  these  sledges  glide 
along  at  a  great  rate,  and  you  can  almost  take  a 
beeline  from  place  to  place,  across  swamps, 
rivers,  and  otherwise  impossible  grounds. 

The  language  of  Lapland  varies  a  good  deal,. 
Finnish,  Lapp,  and  Norse  are  all  spoken.  The 
bona-fide  Lapp  speaks  Finsk  or  Lapp,  which  is 
quite  different  from  the  other.  It  is  a  matter 
for  much  thankfulness  that  part  of  the  Scriptures 
have  now  been  issued  in  the  Lapp  language  and 
the  whole  in  the  tongue  of  the  Finn. 


CHAPTER  V. 

HER  FIRST  SERMON  IN  A  LUTHERAN 
STATE  CHURCH. 

The  field  of  the  state-appointed  Lutheran 
ministers  in  Lapland  is  waste  in  as  much  as  there 
usually  are  several  miles  between  each  member 
of  the  great  parish.  The  Reverend  Ahlfort  was 
in  possession,  however,  of  a  strong  will  and  great 
endurance.  More  than  once  he  had  fnade  his 
round  among  the  people  along  untrodden  paths, 
across  mountains  and  rivers  and  through  blinding 
snow-storms.  At  times  he  had  taken  on  the  long 
snow-skids,  but  mostly  he  had  been  compelled  to 
travel  in  a  reindeer  sleigh.  The  most  important 
thing  was  '  to  get  there '  and  he  did  not  mind  a 
few  trials  for  the  joy  of  bringing  the  glad  tidings 
to  the  lonely  tents.  You  understand,  this  par- 
ticular Lutheran  minister  was  really  a  good  and' 
great  man  of  God  and  was  not  only  a  stateap- 
pointed  servant  but  also  a  true  missionary.  Yet,, 
now  in  his  older  years  he  felt  a  little  tired  and! 
worn-out,  and  had  some  severe  twinges  of  rheu- 
matism and  such-like  ailments  as  a  result  of  his 
long  service  among  the  Laplanders.  To  one  who 
is  used  to  a  comfortable  home  it  is  not  always 
pleasant  to  lie  around  the  fire  with  half  a  dozen 
Lapps  or  more,  while  the  snow  whirles  in 
through  the  roof  and  door  openings.  One  may 
89 


90  FORTUNATE  LAPPS. 

be  sure  that  at  times  such  a  night  in  a  Lap- 
lander's tent  seems  long,  and  that  sleep  does  not 
come  very  readily.  Also  you  may  feel  absolutely 
assured  that  the  hot  coffee  in  the  morning  is  more 
than  welcome,  even  if  the  brown  drink,  in  ac- 
cordance to  the  ways  and  habits  of  the  Lapps,  is 
quite  strongly  salted,  and  the  only  thing  along 
with  the  coffee  is  a  piece  of  frozen  reindeer  meat. 
Beside  the  pastoral  charge,  which  included 
the  clerical  and  communal  work,  the  Reverend 
Ahlfort  was  also  the  manager  and  superintendent 
of  "The  Home-School  for  young  Lapps"  and 
"  The  home  for  aged  Lapps."  If  the  writer's 
memory  does  not  err,  he  was  also  the  founder  of 
these  two  benevolent  institutions;  and  it  was 
-touching  to  see  the  gratitude,  obedience  and  love 
with  which  he  was  met  by  his  happy  proteges. 
It  was  hard  for  the  old  Lapps  to  carry  on  their 
strenous  nomadic  life,  and  it  was  indeed  a 
blessed  thing  for  them  to  finally  reach  such  a 
comfortable  haven  as  the  Home  for  the  aged  in 
Jockmock ;  but  an  ever  greater  influence  and 
blessing  was  the  school  for  the  young  Lapps.  Of 
course,  during  the  summer  time,  the  Government 
sent  teachers  to  the  mountains,  these  teachers 
being  obliged  to  live  in  the  tents  with  the  Lapps, 
and  to  follow  the  families  on  their  wanderings; 
but  only  a  few  could  be  reached  in  this  way. 
Pastor  Ahlfort's  plan  was  to  collect  the  children 
in  schools  like  the  one  he  had  ah-eady  started, 


IN  THE  LAPP  CHURCH.  QI 

where  they  could  be  taught  to  read  and  write. 
In  the  Jockmock  school  they  were  given  not 
only  the  usual  subjects  but  also  industrial 
practical  teaching  which  would  be  a  help  and 
pleasure  to  them  during  the  long  winter  days.. 
The  Jockrnock  people  had  two  beautiful  State 
Churches.  One,  the  oldest,  was  for  every  day 
use,  so  to  speak;  while  the  other  one,  which  was- 
larger,  was  used  for  Sunday  masses  and  special 
holidays.  In  the  old  Lapp  Church  the  pastor 
had  arranged  for  Sister  Bertha's  aftemooa 
meetings.  Her  intention  had  first  been  to  lecture 
on  the  subject  of  missions,  but  as  she  stood  be- 
fore this  selected  crowd  of  warm-hearted,  sym- 
pathetic hearers,  she  suddenly  changed  her  mind 
and  gave  them  instead  the  best  she  had — a  person- 
al testimony  concerning  God  as  a  personal  Father 
and  Friend.  Besides  the  educated  Lapps,  were 
the  workers  and  teachers  from  the  institutions,. 
the  Government  officials,  and  owners  as  well  as: 
workers  of  industrial  Lapland  enterprises,  such 
as  mines  and  lumber  mills.  Being  hundreds  of 
English  miles  away  from  the  outside  world,  they 
were  all  greatly  interested,  and  grateful  for  the 
novelty  of  seeing  a  lady-speaker  in  the  pulpit  of 
a  Lutheran  Church. 

"  Of  course,  all  of  you  know,  that  I  am  not 
here  for  the  purpose  of  preaching,"  she  started 
on  with  her  sunniest  smile,  "the  truth  is  I  do  not 
know  how  to  preach,  and  if  I  should  make  an 


'g2  LIKE  MARY  OF  OLD. 

attempt  today  I  am  a  little  bit  afraid  of  a  failure ; 
but  even  if  I  am  unable  to  be  a  Petrus,  you  may 
allow  me  to  do  like  Mary  of  old.  You  remember 
how  she,  one  early  Sabbath  morning,  came  out- 
side the  opened  grave  of  Jesus ;  and  outside  the 
grave  she  met  her  Master,  and  He  told  her  to 
return  to  His  disciples  to  tell  them  what  she  had 
seen  and  heard.  She  did  so.  She  did  not  try 
to  preach  to  them.  She  told  them  she  had  seen 
Jesus.  Now  as  to  me,  I  have  also  been  outside 
the  open  grave,  and  have  seen  my  risen  Master 
face  to  face;  and  He  has  told  me  to  come  back 
to  His  people  to  tell  them  a  little  about  the  many 
wonderful  experiences  which  I  have  had  in  His 
happy  service :  but  let  me  first  of  all  read  to  you 
some  precious  promises  from  the  Word  of  God. 

"  I  say  unto  you,  That  if  two  of  you  shall 
agree  on  earth  as  touching  anything  that  they 
shall  ask,  it  shall  be  done  for  them  oi  my  Father 
which  is  in  heaven.  For  where  two  or  three  are 
gathered  together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in 
the  midst  of  them." — Matt.  i8 :  19,  20. 

"And  Jesus  saith  unto  them,  have  faith  in 
God.  For  verily  I  say  unto  you,  That  whosoever 
shall  say  unto  this  mountain.  Be  thou  removed, 
and  be  thou  cast  into  the  sea,  and  shall  not  doubt 
in  his  heart,  but  shall  believe  that  those  things 
which  he  sailh  shall  come  to  pass ;  he  shall  have 
whatsoever  he  saith.  Therefore  I  say  unto  you, 
What   things   soever  ye   desire,   when   ye   pray. 


STARS  OF  PROMISES.  93 

'-believe  that  ye  receive  them,  AND  YE  SHALL 
HAVE  THEM."— Mark  11:22-24. 

"  And  whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  my  name, 
'that  will  I  do,  that  the  Father  may  be  glorified  in 
the  Son.  If  ye  shall  ask  anything  in  my  name, 
I  WILL  DO  IT."— John  14 :  13,  14. 

"IF  YE  ABIDE  IN  ME,  AND  MY  WORDS 
ABIDE  IN  YOU,  ye  shall  ask  what  ye  will,  and 
IT  SHALL  BE  DONE  UNTO  YOU.  Herein 
is  my  Father  glorified  that  ye  bear  much  fruit." 
—John  15  :  7,  8. 

"  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  Whatsoever 
ye  shall  ask  the  Father  in  my  name,  He  will  give 
it  you.  Hitherto  have  ye  asked  nothing  in  my 
name:  ASK,  AND  YE  SHALL  RECEIVE, 
THAT  YOUR  JOY  MAY  BE  FULL."— John 
16 :  23,  24. 

"  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  if  ye  have  faith  as  a 
■grain  of  mustard  seed,  ye  shall  say  unto  this 
mountain.  Remove  hence  to  yonder  place,  and  it 
rshall  remove,  AND  NOTHING  SHALL  BE 
IMPOSSIBLE  UNTO  YOU."  — Matt.  17:20. 

"  And  whatsoever  we  ask,  we  receive  of  Him, 
BECAUSE  WE  KEEP  HIS  COMMAND- 
MENT, AND  DO  THOSE  THINGS  THAT 
ARE  PLEASING  IN  HIS  SIGHT."— i  John 

3 '  22. 

"  And  this  is  the  confidence  that  we  have  in 
Him,  that,  if  we  ask  anything  according  to  His 
^11,  He  heareth  us.    And  if  we  know  that  He 


94  HE   IS   FAITHFUL." 

hear  us,  whatsoever  we  ask,  we  know  that  we- 
have  the  petitions  that  we  desired  of  Him." — - 
1  John  5:  15. 

Here  is  something  very  precious  indeed  that: 
I  and  others  with  me  have  discovered  since  it 
has  become  so  dark  and  stormy  in  the  world,  and 
that  is  that  THE  DIVINE  STARS  OF  PROM- 
ISES shine  more  brightly  the  closer  and  darker 
the  night  becomes.  No  one  need  think  that  these 
stars  soar  out  of  reach  in  some  distant  corner 
of  the  unknown  regions  of  the  sky,  for  anyone 
may  receive  of  their  infinite  blessing  through  the 
hand  of  childlike  faith.  It  is  even  so  that  the 
smaller  we  are  the  more  easily  we  can  reach 
them. 

With  all  the  greater  confidence  we  are  enabled 
to  rejoice  in  the  glorious  briUiance  of  these  stars, 
inasmuch  as  their  beauty  is  never  marred  by  any 
deception  or  false  light  • —  there  is  nothing  empty^ 
about  their  glor}^  Perhaps  this  testimony  shall 
reach  the  ears  of  someone,  who  has  not  yet,  as- 
his  personal  gift,  received  God's  stars  of  promis- 
es, and  if  so,  I  will  earnestly  urge.  Behold,  how 
the  heavens  and  the  earth  bear  united  and  over- 
whelming testimony  to  the  fact  that  HE  IS 
FAITHFUL  THAT  PROMISED.  Accept 
these  stars  of  promises  from  the  Lord,  and  per- 
mit their  warming  rays  of  love  to  dispel  the 
anxiety  and  worry  of  your  heart,  and  give  you 
instead    sweet    rest    and   peace.      However,    the 


AN  IMPORTANT   KEY.  95 

angels  of  God,  which  are  sent  out  to  minister  to 
them  who  shall  inherit  salvation,  have  not  the 
power  to  carry  us  to  the  heavenly  Treasury  and 
-open  wide  its  doors^  unless  our  lives  have  been 
sealed  with  the  cross  of  Christ.  Let  us,  there- 
fore, in  our  thoughts  write  across  the  promises, 
we  have  read,  the  following  words  as  a  key  to 
them  all,  "IF  ANY  MAN  WILL  COME 
AFTER  ME,  LET  HIM  DENY  HIMSELF, 
AND  TAKE  UP  HIS  CROSS  DAILY,  AND 
FOLLOW  ME."  —  Luke  9 :  23.  As  good  sol- 
diers of  Jesus  Christ  we  must  be  sure  to  always 
wear  our  full  uniform,  carrying  our  weapons, 
and  during  every  step  of  our  pilgrimage  follow 
closely  in  the  footsteps  of  the  Lamb,  wherever 
it  goes. 

If  we  Christians  stood  in  a  more  personal 
relationship  with  God  how  much  better  would 
not  everything  be  amongst  us.  In  the  first  place 
we  would  be  more  contented  and  happy  in  our 
daily  life,  nor  would  we  as  easily  as  now  often 
occurs  lose  heart  and  courage.  In  the  second 
place  we  would  be  much  more  successful  in 
pointing  the  way  to  the  great  and  loving  heart  of 
our  heavenly  Father.  Some  of  us  can  only  think 
of  God  as  a  supreme  Being  who  only  upon  very 
festive  occasions  condescends  to  appear  among 
us  to  direct  our  affairs.  Others  are  fortunate 
•enough  to  have  learned  to  know  Him  as  a  person- 
al friend  and  companion,  who  is  ever  close  by. 


96  WHY  NOT  TRUST  HIM  ? 

ever  real  and  personal.  Those  that  can  rely  uporp 
the  Lord's  guidance  in  all  things,  great  as  well  as- 
small,  are  surely  most  blessed.  Those  that  clear- 
ly understand  that  all  things  work  together  for- 
good  to  them  that  love  God  are  in  no  danger^ 
even  in  the  darkest  days  of  trial  and  tribulation, 
of  losing  their  peace  and  joy  in  Him.  Permit 
me  here  to  ask  you  very  directly  a  personal 
question.  Do  you  believe  in  the  love  of  God  as  it 
is  revealed  in  Jesus  Christ,  His  only  begotten 
Son?  Do  you  believe  that  the  faithful,  loving" 
heart  of  your  heavenly  Father  ever  knows  what 
is  best  for  you ;  and  that  His  thoughts  and  plans-, 
for  you  is  love  and  LOVE  ONLY?  Why  not 
then,  rely  upon  the  guidance  and  faithfulness  of 
God  in  the  little  things  of  our  every  day  life?' 
Some  of  you  have  been  able  to  trust  God  for  the 
things  that  are  of  vaster  import,  viz.,  forgiveness- 
of  your  sins,  the  salvation  of  your  soul,  and  the 
cleansing  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  why  not  also- 
trust  Him  for  your  body  and  earthly  blessings 
as  well  ?  For  my  own  part  I  am  far  from  being 
a  heroine  of  faith,  but  my  desire  and  aim  is  to- 
reach  the  goal  of  the  blessed  peace  and  rest  that 
come  from  unbounded  surrender  and  absolute, 
wholehearted  confidence  in  God.  Mr.  George 
Muller,  the  famous  hero  of  faith,  gives  the  fol- 
lowing advices  as  how  to  ascertain  the  will  of 
God  in  order  that  we  may  be  able  to  lay  our 


ASCERTAINING   GOD's   WILL.  Q/ 

hands  on  these  wonderful  stars  of  promises  in 
the  Word. 

He  says,  "  I  seek  at  the  beginning  to  get  my 
heart  into  such  a  state  that  it  has  no  will  of  its 
own  in  regard  to  a  given  matter.  Nine-tenths 
of  the  trouble  with  people  generally  is  just  here. 
Nine-tenths  of  the  difficulties  are  overcome  when 
our  hearts  are  ready  to  do  the  Lord's  will,  what- 
ever it  may  be.  When  one  is  truly  in  this  state 
it  is  usually  but  a  little  way  to  the  knowledge  of 
what  His  will  is. 

(2)  Having  done  this,  I  do  not  leave  the 
result  to  feeling  or  simply  impression.  If  so,  I 
make  myself  liable  to  great  delusions. 

(3)  I  seek  the  will  of  the  Spirit  of  God 
through,  or  in  connection  with  the  Word  of  God. 
The  Spirit  and  the  Word  must  be  combined.  If 
I  look  to  the  Spirit  alone  without  the  Word,  I 
lay  myself  open  to  great  delusions  also.  If  the 
Holy  Ghost  guides  us  at  all.  He  will  do  it  ac- 
cording to  the  Scriptures  and  never  contrary  to- 
them. 

(4)  Next  I  take  into  account  providential 
circumstances.  These  often  plainly  indicate 
God's  will  in  connection  with  His  Word  and 
Spirit. 

(5)  I  ask  God  in  prayer  to  reveal  His  will 
to  me  aright. 

(6)  Thus,  through  prayer  to  God,  the  study 
of  the  Word,  and  reflection,  I  come  to  a  deliberate 


98  SOME   CONDITIONS. 

judgment  according  to  the  best  of  my  ability  and 
knowledge,  and  if  my  mind  is  thus  at  peace,  and 
continues  so  after  two  or  three  more  petitions, 
1  proceed  accordingly.  In  trivial  matters,  and 
in  transactions  involving  most  important  issues, 
I  have  found  this  method  always  effective. 

Remember  the  five  conditions  of  prevailing 
prayer.  Firsth^,  entire  dependence  upon  the 
merits  and  mediation  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
as  the  only  ground  of  any  claim  of  blessing.  (See 
John  14:  13,  14  and  John  15:  16,  etc.) 

Secondly,  separation  from  all  known  sin.  "If 
we  regard  iniquity  in  our  hearts,  the  Lord  will 
not  hear  us,  for  it  would  be  sanctioning  sin. 
(Psalm  66:18.) 

Thirdly,  faith  in  God's  Word  of  promise  as 
confirmed  by  His  oath.  Not  to  believe  Him  is 
to  make  Him  both  a  liar  and  a  perjurer.  (Heb. 
11:6.) 

Fourthly,  asking  in  accordance  with  His  will. 
Our  motives  must  be  godly:  we  must  not  seek 
any  gift  of  God  to  consume  it  upon  our  lusts, 
(i  John  5:  14;  James  4:3.) 

Fiftly,  importunity  in  supi)lication.  There 
must  be  waiting  on  God  and  waiting  for  God, 
as  the  husbandman  has  long  patience  to  wait  for 
the  harvest.    (James  5:7;  Luke  18:1-8.)" 

In  common  with  George  Muller  and  others,  I 
have  also  experienced  and  received  quite  a  bit 
of  the  Father's  faithfulness  and  love.     The  fol- 


A  MISSIONARY   CALL.  99 

lowing  instances  prove  the  clear  intervention  of 
God  in  the  little  things  in  our  every  day  life; 
but  it  is  going  to  be  hard  to  give  a  personal  testi- 
mony as  to  His  loving  kindness  and  mercy  with- 
out working  the  little  pronoun  "  I  "  overtime. 
Yet,  if  it  will  help  anyone  to  get  a  better  vision 
of  the  Father's  love,  I  will  gladly  go  to  the  em- 
barrassment of  clamping  down  the  "  I  "  key  in 
my  talk  today. 

I  was  a  Red  Cross  Nurse  in  a  large  hospital 
in  Stockholm  (the  Capitol  of  Sweden)  when  the 
call  came  to  me  to  go  out  as  a  missionary.  "The 
Call,"  someone  may  ask,  "  how  did  you  receive 
it?"  It  may  not  be  so  easy  to  give  a  completly 
satisfactory  answer  to  this  question,  inasmuch 
as  the  call  did  not  come  in  any  supernatural  way 
through  voices  or  visions.  On  the  contrary  it 
came  quite  simply  and  naturally  as  a  logical  de- 
velopment of  the  preceding  events  in  my  life. 
When  the  time  arrived  for  me  to  go  the  Lord 
Himself  opened  the  door  in  such  unmistakable 
fashion  that  no  possible  misunderstanding  could 
arise:  but  in  order  to  enter  in  through  this  open 
door  it  was  necessary  that  I  should  leave  all 
human  staffs  behind,  walking  altogether  alone, 
supported  only  by  the  arm  of  God.  Now,  I  had 
until  that  time  been  accustomed  at  least  in  part 
to  receive  help  from  others,  that  is  I  was  some- 
what leaning  on  arms  of  flesh,  having  for  intimate 
friends  great  men  and  women  of  God.     When 


lOO         THE  CROSSING  OF  ROADS. 

therefore  the  question  arose  of  rehnquishing 
every  human  support  to  be  alone  with  the  Lord, 
I  trembled  and  sought  to  take  flight  upon  ways 
of  my  own  choosing:  but  in  His  surpassing  grace 
the  Lord  shut  every  such  way  without  delay. 
For  a  long  time  I  also  feared,  in  spite  of  the  ap- 
parent clearness  of  divine  guidance,  that  I  had 
made  a  mistake  with  regard  to  the  call,  realizing 
as  I  did  how  utterly  unfit  I  was  to  take  up  the 
great  work  of  a  missionary,  full  as  it  is  of  heavy 
responsibilities.  In  my  anxiety  I  earnestly 
prayed  to  God  to  show  me  very  plainly  whether 
it  was  His  will  or  mine  that  I  should  discontinue 
my  work  in  the  hospital  and  become  a  missionaiy. 
I  even  ventured  to  remind  the  Lord  of  the  fact 
that  I  stood  alone  and,  indeed  at  this  important 
parting  of  the  ways  in  my  life  was  devoid  of  all 
human  help  and  guidance,  "Thou  hast  promised," 
I  said,  "  that  if  we  commit  our  ways  unto  Thee, 
Thou  will  not  allow  us  to  stumble,"  "  Delight 
thyself  also  in  the  Lord,  and  He  shall  give  thee 
the  desire  of  thine  heart.  Commit  thy  way  unto 
the  Lord,  trust  also  in  Llim,  and  He  shall  bring  it 
to  pass." — Psalm  37:4,  5. 

After  some  time  of  much  prayer  and  waiting 
■on  the  Lord,  I  felt  impelled  to  speak  to  the  pastor 
of  my  church  as  to  my  missionaiy  plans.  To 
my  surprise  T  found  that  he  as  well  as  the  elders 
of  tlie  church  had  been  talking  and  praying  about 
■me,  all  united  in  the  opinion  that  I  ought  to  be 


A    SERIOUS   TRIAL.  lOI 

sent  out  as  a  missionary.  All  of  these  brethren 
were  men  filled  by  the  Spirit  and  wellknown  for 
their  wisdom  and  impartiality,  and  I  could  not 
help  but  feeling  that  they  advised  me  as  directed 
and  inspired  by  the  Lord,  whose  true  servants 
they  were.  It  was  proposed  that  I  first  of  all 
should  go  to  Lapland,  although  I  well  knew  that 
this  appointment  would  not  be  a  permanent  one. 
Yet,  I  felt  that  the  hardships  which  awaited  me 
in  Lapland  would  be  a  well  needed  preparation 
for  what  was  to  be  my  real  life-work.  However, 
a  fortnight  before  the  time  set  for  my  departure 
for  snowland,  something  occured  which  seemed 
very  unexpected  and  unwelcome  to  me.  I  got  a 
very  painful  and  serious  ailment  in  my  right  leg 
and  foot.  Having  quite  a  responsible  position  in 
the  large  hospital,  I  had  to  be  almost  everywhere 
supervising  the  work  and  was  thus  obliged  to  be 
on  my  feet  constantly.  Greatly  sufifering  with 
my  poor,  swollen  foot  and  leg,  I  limped  around 
for  several  days,  supporting  myself  on  a  cane. 
Then  one  day  the  great  head-doctor  came  to  me 
and  said,  "  Now,  Sister  Bertha,  we  can  not  afford 
to  have  you  limp  like  this  any  longer.  You  must 
please  go  to  bed  at  once,  and  we  will  put  your 
diseased  limbs  in  a  plastercase."  Used  to  obey 
the  doctor,  I  asked  somewhat  timidly,  "  How 
long  time  would  that  take  ?"  "  A  year  or  a  year 
and  a  half,"  he  replied,  "  it  will  be  a  long  and 
tedious  job  to  break  the  disease."     "  Then  I  am 


102  THE   WAY  OF   FAITH. 

very  sorry  to  have  to  disobey  you  in  this  in- 
stance," I  said  kind  of  regretfully,  "  you  see  I 
am  going  to  Lapland  as  a  missionary  in  a  week  or 
two,  and  God  who  is  sending  me  must  be  aware 
of  the  fact  that  I  do  need  my  feet  and  legs  when 
wandering  around  in  the  mountains.  I  am  con- 
fident that  He  will  restore  me  before  I  leave  for 
the  missionary  field." 

The  otherwise  goodnatured  physician  glared 
at  me  impatiently,  "  Very  well,"  he  sputtered,  "  if 
you  wish  to  commit  suicide  or  make  yourself  a 
cripple  for  life  it  is  all  right  with  me." 

As  he,  in  quite  an  ill-temper,  left  me,  I  felt 
tempted  to  call  him  back  in  order  to  submit  my- 
self to  his  care.  Face  to  face  with  a  period  of 
several  months  of  enforced  inactivity,  my  heart 
was  filled  with  infinite  sorrow.  Much  as  I  had 
striven  against  the  Lord  hitherto,  I  was  now  sad- 
dened because  I  could  not  be  of  use  in  His 
service.  Just  then,  however,  I  discovered  that 
the  Lord  had  really  and  truly  implanted  in  my 
will  a  deep  desire  to  place  myself  completely  at 
His  disposal,  and  at  the  same  moment  a  warm 
ray  of  light  entered  my  discouraged  heart.  I 
just  know  for  sure  that  He  had  only  permitted 
this  evil  to  befall  me  in  order  to  make  me  willing 
to  set  forth  u]ion  the  broad  plains  of  faith  and 
promise.  From  this  very  day  my  faith  took 
firm  root  both  in  my  understanding  and  in  my 
heart,  and  especially  at  this  decisive  period  in 


THE  FAITH  TESTED.  IO3 

my  life,  He  granted  unto  me  such  strength  that 
all  wavering  disappeared,  and  I  was  filled  with 
the  most  tranquil  and  blessed  assurance  of  His 
will  and  plans  in  my  behalf.  The  next  day  the 
doctor  on  his  rounds  found  me  still  on  duty 
in  one  of  the  hospital  wards.  "  Will  not  you  be 
good  to  yourself?"  he  asked  with  his  old-time 
kindliness,  "  you  will  surely  become  incurable  if 
you  continue  to  be  about  for  another  day," 
"  There  is  no  use  to  take  to  bed  now,"  I  answered 
smilingly,  "because  within  a  few  days  I  am  to 
depart  for  Lapland,  and  I  repeat,  the  Lord  knows 
that  I  shall  have  need  of  both  my  limbs.  I  count 
on  HIM  not  to  fail  me." 

The  day  before  my  departure  arrived,  I 
went  out  in  the  city  of  Stockholm  to  buy  my 
equipment  for  the  trip  to  Snowland,  and  to  say 
goodby  to  a  few  friends  who  were  serving  as 
nurses  in  other  hospitals.  When  night  came  it 
was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  I  pulled  myself 
together  in  order  to  return  to  my  own  hospital, 
and  when  I  finally  got  back  to  my  room,  I  sank 
down  in  a  chair  and  began  to  cry  most  bitterly  of 
pain  and  agony  unutterable.  I  had  walked  too 
much  on  my  diseased  foot,  and  was  suffering 
more  than  ever  on  account  of  the  strain.  As  I 
was  expected  to  leave  for  Lapland  early  the 
next  morning,  several  nurses  had  come  together 
in  my  room,  meaning  to  give  me  a  surprise-party. 
Seeing,  however,  how  ill  I  was,  they  forgot  their 


J04  A   JOYOUS   CONVICTION. 

'little  farewell  talk,  and  began  instead  to  reproach 
me  most  severely.  "  Can  not  you  use  some  com- 
mon horse  sense,"  they  scolded,  "and  go  to  bed 
as  the  doctor  has  told  you  to  do?  Surely  you 
understand  better  than  to  imagine  that  miracles 
occur  in  our  days?  We  all  know  that  the  gift 
of  divine  healing  was  only  confined  to  the  days 
of  the  apostles  and  to  the  time  of  the  first  church. 
Now  we  have  hospitals  and  physicians  and  nurses 
like  ourselves,  and  it  would  be  ridiculous  to  ask 
for  supernatural  intervention."  Hardly  had  they 
expressed  their  opinion,  before  the  Lord  filled  my 
heart  to  overflowing  with  such  a  joyous  convic- 
tion, how  absolutely  IMPOSSIBLE  it  was  that 
HE,  the  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth,  should 
have  CHANGED,  that  I  nearly  forgot  my  physic 
cal  pain.  It  had  suddenly  become  clear  to  me 
how  utterly  unnatural  and  unbelievable  it  was 
that  HE  should  not  have  the  same  power  to  heal 
and  to  help  as  formerly.  I  thought,  if  HE  has 
borne  my  sins  on  the  cross,  why  should  I  bear 
them  ;  and  if  HE  also,  as  the  Bible  says,  has  borne 
my  infirmities  and  my  diseases,  WHY  SHOULD 

1  BEAR  THEM  ?  In  faith  I  saw  them  all— my 
sins  and  my  bodily  infirmities  —  nailed  on  the 
cross,  and  as  never  before  I  realized  the 
REALITY  of  His  Word  and  His  promises. 

"  I   will   heal    thee,   and   add   to   thy   days." 

2  Kings  20 :  5. 

"lie  shall  heal  them."     Isa.  19:22. 


I   WILL   HEAL  THEE."  IO5 

"  I  have  seen  his  ways,  and  will  heal  him." 
!Isa.  19:  19. 

"  I  will  heal  thee  of  thy  wounds,  saith  the 
-Lord."     Jer.  30:  17. 

"  Let  us  return,  he  hath  torn,  and  will  heal 
us."    Hos.  6:  I. 

"  Jesus  saith,  I  will  come  and  heal  him." 
;Matt.  8 :  7. 

"  To   heal   all   manner  of   sickness."     Mark 

.3:15- 

"Heal  the  sick,  cleanse  the  lepers."  Luke  9 :  2. 

"  The  power  of  the  Lord  was  present  to  heal 
them."     Luke  5  :  17. 

"  By  stretching  forth  Thine  hand  to  heal." 
Acts  4:  30. 

"  God  healed  Abimelech  and  his  wife."  Gen. 
20:  17. 

"He  shall  cause  him  to  be  thoroughly  healed." 
Exodus  21 :  19. 

"  Return  an  offering,  then  he  shall  be  healed." 
T.  Sam.  6:  3. 

"  The  Lord  hearkened  and  healed  the  people." 
.2  Chron.  30 :  20. 

"  I  cried  to  Thee  and  Thou  hast  healed  me." 
Psalm  30 : 2. 

"  He  sent  His  word  and  healed  them."  Psalm 
307 :  20. 

"  HE  WAS  BRUISED,  AND  WITH  HIS 
STRIPES  WE  ARE  HEALED."  Isa.  53 :  5. 


io6       "they  were  healed  everyone." 

"  Those  that  had  the  palsy,  and  He  healed 
them."     Matt.  4:24. 

"  And  He  touched  his  ear  and  healed  him." 
Luke  22:  51. 

"  And   they   were   healed   everyone."     Acts- 
5:16. 

"  Paul    prayed,    and    healed    the    father    of 
Publius."    Acts  28 :  8. 

"  Pray  one  for  another,  that  ye  may  be  heal- 
ed."   James  5 :  16. 

"BY     WHOSE     STRIPES     YE    WERK 
HEALED."     I  Peter  2 :  24. 

"  I  am  the  Lord  that  healeth  thee."    Exodus- 
15:26. 

"Bless  the  Lord  who  healeth  all  thy  diseases."' 
Psalm  103 : 3. 

"  The  Sun  of  righteousness  shall  arise  with' 
healing  in  His  wings."   Mai.  4:2. 

"  And  He  healed  them  that  had  need  of  heal- 
ing."   Luke  9:11. 

"  It  is  given  to  another  the  gifts  of  healing."' 
I  Cor.  12:  9. 

"  Preaching   the   gospel   and   healing   every- 
where."   Luke  9:  6. 

"  Healing    all    that    were   oppressed   by   the- 
devil."    Acts  10:  38. 

"  Thy  health  shall  spring  forth  speedily."  Isa. 
58:8. 

"  I  will   restore  health  unto  thee,,  and  heat 
thee."  Jer.  30:  17. 


BARE  OUR  SICKNESSES.  IO7 

"  Mayest  be  in  health,  as  thy  soul  prospereth." 
:3  John  2. 

"  HIMSELF  TOOK  OUR  INFIRMITIES, 
AND  BARE  OUR  SICKNESSES."  Matthew 
.8:17. 

To  all  this  I  added,  "  Jesus  Christ  the  same 
j^esterday,  and  today,  and  forever."  I  felt  that  I 
•could  not  and  would  not  believe  in  anything  less 
than  A  WHOLE  GOD,  A  GOD  WHO  SAYS 
WHAT  HE  MEANS  AND  MEANS  WHAT 
TIE  SAYS,  and  was  not  the  Bible  just  full  of 
assurances  not  only  for  spiritual  healing  but 
bodily  healing  as  well. 

I  understood  that  God  indeed  must  be  what 
He  has  declared  Himself  to  be,  infinitely  faithful, 
and  that  He  simply  could  not  give  utterance  to 
any  promise  that  He  would  not  be  perfectly  will- 
ing and  able  to  fulfill.  Smilingly  I  bade  good- 
night to  the  wellmeaning  comrades,  and  went  to 
bed,  singing  over  and  over  again,  "  There  is 
victory  in  the  name  of  Jesus.  Victoiy,  victory 
and  PERFECT  VICTORY."  The  old  devil 
tried  his  best  to  stop  the  singing,  and  the  attack 
on  my  limb  was  something  fierce.  Yet,  in  spite 
of  the  almost  unbearable  agony  I  kept  on  saying 
to  myself,  "  Jesus  Christ  the  same  yesterday,  to- 
day, and  forever,"  and  finally  I  went  to  sleep. 
The  day  of  my  departure  for  Lapland  arose 
"bright  and  sunshiny,  and  when  I  awoke  the  dis- 
*ease  in  mv  limb  had  left  me,  and  the  unnatural 


io8 


SHE  IS   HEALED. 


color  had  vanished  and  the  swelling  had  gone- 
down,  and  I  was  completely  restored.  To  be- 
sure  I  was  happy  and  hardly  knew  if  I  should' 
stand  on  the  one  foot  or  the  other,  and  half  be- 
side myself  for  joy  I  rushed  down  the  long  hall 
in  the  hospital,  shouting  and  jumping.  Wonder- 
ing what  all  this  noise  was  about,  the  head- 
doctor  as  well  as  some  of  my  comrades  came 
hurrying  out  from  the  wards  inquiring  what  on 
earth  I  was  up  to.  "  The  Lord  has  healed  me," 
I  declared,  "  and  I  want  you  to  know  that  He 
is  just  the  same  as  ever^  has  not  changed  a  bit 
since  the  time  of  the  apostles."  "  Let  me  see  that 
foot  and  leg  of  yours,"  said  the  head-doctor 
skeptically,  "  I  have  heard  about  divine  healing 
before.  It  is  all  humbug  so  far  as  I  have  been 
able  to  figure  out."  It  took  some  time  for  him 
to  admit  that  He  had  been  wrong,  but  finally  he 
swallowed  hard  and  said  with  difficulty,  "  The 
head-nurse  is  right,  her  doctor  has  done  a  better 
job  than  I  ever  could  have  done,  there  is  no 
trace  of  the  disease." 

During  the  journey  to  Lapland  I  was  entirely 
too  happy  to  stay  inside  the  train,  but  kept  by 
myself  on  the  open  platform.  (On  the  trains  in 
Sweden  and  Norway  you  may  stand  on  the 
platform  if  you  want  to.)  You  see  I  HAD  to 
sing  ALOUD,  not  merely  in  my  heart  as  I  usu- 
ally do,  and  as  the  Lord  has  not  seen  fit  to  give 
me  the  gift  of  singing,  I  was  compelled,  to  be 


WORK  TOGETHER  FOR  GOOD.  IO9 

where  no  one  would  be  able  to  hear  me.  I  was 
confident  that  as  God  had  met  me  with  His 
faithfulness  at  the  threshold  of  my  labors,  so  He 
would  continue  to  do^  and  in  this  I  was  not  mis- 
taken. This  child-like  relationship  with  God 
has  had  a  very  blessed  influence  upon  my  spirit- 
ual life.  It  is  a  wonderful  happy  everyday 
experience  to  reach  out  the  hand  of  childish 
faith  and  say  in  utter  confidence  and  trust,  "Abba 
Father."  Yes,  I  venture  to  assure  you,  that 
everything  tastes  doubly  good  when  it  thus  comes 
direct  from  the  loving,  faithful  and  bountiful 
hand  of  our  heavenly  Father.  Moreover,  it  is 
such  an  interesting  and  rich  life  to  walk  on  the 
way  of  faith,  depending  on  God  for  everything 
for  soul  and  body.  As  a  journalist  for  several 
religious  papers  and  magazines,  it  has  been  my 
lot  to  search  everywhere  for  news  interesting 
enough  for  our  readers,  but  I  have  found  that 
no  place  offers  more  that  is  new  and  remarkable 
than  the  land  of  promise  and  faith.  How 
intensely  exciting  it  is  to  behold  day  by  day  how 
God  Himself  takes  part  in  every  little  detail  in 
our  everyday  life,  and  intervenes  in  such  a  way 
as  to  make  everything  WORK  TOGETHER 
FOR  OUR  GOOD.  There  is  also  another  ad- 
vantage in  knowing  that  as  we  become  depend- 
ent upon  God  we  also  become  quite  independent 
of  men.  We  can  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that 
even  the  best  among  us  are  liable  to  change,  and 


no  WHYS  AND  WHEREFORES. 

that  even  our  most  faithful  friends  at  times  are 
unable  to  help.    How  sweety  therefore,  to  know 
that  HE,  the  rock  of  our  salvation,  never  wavers 
but  remains  a  sure  haven  of  rest  and  absolute  se- 
curity in  all  the  vicissitudes  and  storms  of  life.  At 
first  there  was  not  much  to  be  said  for  my  faith, 
and  even  now  I  do  not  count  myself  a  heroine 
of  faith.     Far  from  it,  for  there  are  times  when 
I  hold  to  my  own  opinions  without  first  learning 
to  know  the  will  of  God,  and  then  He  has  to  lead 
me  back  to  the  highway  again.     While  at  times 
He  is  thus  engaged  in  changing  my  views  and 
plans,   surprise   takes   hold   of   my  heart,   com- 
mingled with  not  a  little  fear.   How  sluggish  are 
our  minds  when  endeavoring  to  understand  God's 
plans.     How  many  whys  and  wherfores  before 
we  learn  to  know  God's  will.     Still  I  am  usually 
able  to  reconcile  the  loving  voice  of  the  Savior 
when  I  finally  hear  His  reassuring,  "  Fear  not, 
it  is  I,"  and  then  my  heart  is  set  at  rest,  even 
though   the  answer  to  my  queries  may  not  be 
immediately  forthcoming. 

"  Master,  the  tempest  is  raging ! 

The  billows  are  tossing  high ! 
The  sky  is  o'er-shadowed  with  blackness, 

No  shelter  or  help  is  nigh, 
■"  Carest  Thou  not  that  we  perish  ? 

How  canst  Thou  lie  asleep, 


PEACE  BE  STILL.  Ill 

When  each  moment  so  madly  is  threat'ning 
A  grave  in  the  angry  deep? 

"  The  winds  and  the  waves  shall  obey  my  will. 

Peace,  be  still. 
Whether  the  wrath  of  the  storm-tossed  sea, 

Or  demons,  or  men,  or  whatever  it  be. 
No  water  can  swallow  the  ship  where  lies 

The  Master  of  ocean,  and  earth,  and  skies; 
They  all  shall  sweetly  obey  my  will. 

Peace  be  still.  Peace  be  still. 

"  Master,  the  terror  is  over, 

The  elements  sweetly  rest, 
Earth's  sun  in  the  calm  lake  is  mirrored. 

And  heaven's  within  my  breast. 
Linger,  O  blessed  Redeemer, 

Leave  me  alone  no  more, 
And  with  joy  I  shall  make  the  blest  harbor. 

And  rest  on  the  blissful  shore." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

HER  WAY  OF  "PREACHING"   IN   THE 
UNITED  STATES. 

Stenographically  recorded  from  one  of  her 
meetings  in  Los  Angeles,  California,  with  the 
English  given  word  for  word  in  the  broken 
manner  as  she  uses  it. 

"  Let  me  first  of  all  say,  that  I  am  very  happy 
to  be  among  you  tonight.  I  regret,  however,  that 
I  am  not  able  to  use  your  language  as  perfect  as 
I  would  like  to  do.  Yet,  I  am  quite  assured  that 
30U  will  have  no  trouble  in  understanding  if  you 
will  do  me  the  great  favor  of  giving  your  whole- 
hearted attention.  Also  I  would  request  that  all 
the  babies  go  to  sleep.  I  do  think  that  babies 
are  most  lovely  when  they  sleep  in  the  meeting. 

Now,  please,  let  me  remind  you  of  some 
wonderful  promises  in  the  Word.  It  is  stated  in 
the  writings  of  Saint  John,  "  Whatsoever  ye  shall 
ask  in  my  name,  that  will  I  do,  that  the  Father 
may  be  glorified  in  the  Son,"  and  "  Whatsoever 
we  ask,  we  receive  of  Him,  because  we  keep  His 
commandments,  and  do  those  things  that  are 
pleasing  in  His  sight."  I  would  like  very  much  in- 
deed to  be  able  to  preach  with  these  two  verses  as 
my  text,  but  the  truth  is  I  DO  NOT  KNOW 
HOW.  The  only  thing  I  do  know  is  to  follow  the 
112 


REMEMBERING   THE   WAIFS.  II3 

example  of  the  apostles.  It  is  told  about  them 
that  they  went  around  among  the  saints  in  order 
to  establish  them  in  their  faith,  and  thus  they 
traveled  from  place  to  place,  "  rehearsing,"  tell- 
ing over  and  over  again  the  great  things  which 
the  Lord  had  done  for  them.  So,  with  your 
leave,  I  am  going  to  do  the  very  same  thing  to- 
night, rehearse  or  relate  to  you  some  of  the 
wonderful  good  things  which  the  Lord  has  done 
for  me,  and  the  sole  purpose  of  my  testimony 
will  be  to  glorify  HIM,  the  Faithful  One,  and 
to  encourage  you  all  on  the  Way  of  Faith. 

When  I  was  a  little  girl  I  had  no  father  and 
no  mother  and  no  real  home,  but  God  Himself 
become  my  Father,  my  best  friend,  my  all  in  all. 
It  is  indeed  wonderful  with  how  many  promises 
God  in  His  Word  has  remembered  and  favored 
us  waifs.  In  the  first  place  He  calls  Himself  our 
Father,  Helper,  and  Defender,  and  promises  to 
hear  our  cries  and  give  us  justice.  He  curses  the 
wicked,  who  plunder,  oppress,  and  cast  lots  con- 
cerning the  fatherless,  assuring  us  that  He  will 
punish  our  oppressors  and  those  who  neglect  to 
promote  our  interests.  In  addition  He  exhorts 
His  people  to  visit  the  fatherless  in  their  distress, 
to  be  liberal  toward  them,  and  not  to  wrong, 
circumvent  or  grieve  them.  In  this  loving  way 
God  makes  mention  of  us  in  forty  places  in  Holy 
Writ.  Then  there  are  several  beautiful  stories 
showing  that  God  takes  more  than  a  passing  in- 


114  OUT  ON  THE  FAITH-LINE. 

terest  in  the  fatherless.  Read,  for  instance,  the 
accounts  of  Lot,  the  daughters  of  Zelophehad, 
Jotham,  Mephibosheth,  Joash,  and  Esther.  For 
"  when  thy  father  and  mother  forsake  thee,  then 
the  Lord  will  take  thee  up." 

From  my  earliest  childhood  I  have  had  ex- 
periences of  the  heavenly  Father  hearing  and 
answering  prayer.  Nothing  was  ever  a  greater 
source  of  comfort  to  my  lonely  heart  than  the 
knowledge  of  God's  fatherly  love  in  Jesus  Christ. 
"  Can  a  woman  forget  her  suckling  child  .... 
yea,  she  may  forget,  yet  will  I  not  forget  thee. 
Behold  I  have  graven  thee  upon  the  palms  of 
my  hand,  thy  walls  are  continually  before  me." 
(Isa.  49:  15,  16.) 

Some  years  ago  when  I  was  sent  to  Lapland 
as  a  missionary,  the  pastor  of  my  church  came 
to  me  just  a  week  or  two  before  I  was  going  to 
leave,  and  said,  "  Now,  Sister  Bertha,  you  have 
to  step  out,  wholly  and  fully,  on  the  promises  of 
God.  It  means  that  you  have  to  be  a  FAITH- 
MISSIONARY,  looking  to  God  only  for  your 
support.  You  know  we  are  poor  and  can  not 
help  you  financially,  but  we  are  going  to  stand 
by  you  all  the  same  with  our  prayers  and  loving 
interest."  At  that  time  I  was  a  Red  Cross  Nurse 
in  a  large  Hospital  in  Stockholm,  the  Capitol  of 
Sweden,  used  to  quite  a  big  salary,  and  I  could 
not  understand  how  I  would  be  able  to  proceed 
to  Laj)land   with  no  guarantee  of  any  support 


WAVERING  JUST  A   LITTLE.  II5 

whatever.  Wonderingly  I  began  to  ask  myself, 
"  What  shall  I  eat,  and  what  shall  I  drink,  and 
what  shall  I  wear,  and  above  everything,  how 
shall  I  meet  the  heavy  traveling  expenses  in  Lap- 
land where  no  white  man  or  woman  can  get 
around  without  a  guide?"  Thus  speculating 
about  the  matter  I  soon  decided  that  the  Lord 
usually  helps  them  who  help  themselves,  and  so 
a  veiy  bright  idea  struck  my  head.  That  is,  I 
thought  at  the  time  that  it  was  "  bright,"  but 
later  on  I  changed  my  opinion.  However,  in 
my  desire  to  help  God  to  support  me  in  Lapland, 
I  wrote  to  several  publishing  houses,  asking  them 
to  send  a  goodly  supply  of  some  fine  Christian 
books.  "  I  am  going  to  Lapland  as  a  missionary," 
I  wrote,  "  and  I  wish  to  be  self  supporting,"  my 
idea  being  that  I  should  have  a  little  business 
along  at  the  same  time  as  I  preached  the  free 
gospel  of  Christ.  In  this  manner,  with  great 
boxes  full  of  books,  I  arrived  at  my  first  desti- 
nation in  Lapland,  but  the  conditions  in  this 
Country  were  not  exactly  as  I  had  imagined  they 
were.  Everywhere  I  came,  I  saw  sick  people, 
and  poor,  lonely,  half-forsaken  folks,  and  my 
heart  went  out  to  them  in  the  greatest  love  and 
compassion,  my  one  all  absorbing  desire  being  to 
do  my  uttermost  to  serve  and  help  them.  I  had 
no  wish  to  get  anything  out  of  their  poor,  meager 
purses.  Thus  it  happened  that  I,  in  my  God- 
given  love  for  these  people,  went  from  house  to 


Il6  •        A  "  BOOK-SELLER  ". 

house  and  from  hut  to  hut,  tiying  to  persuade 
them  to  accept  Christ,  and  when  I  left,  I  usually 
gave  them  some  of  my  books,  saying,  "  Take  this, 
please,  as  a  keepsake  from  me,  and  when  you 
have  read  it  pass  it  on  to  someone  else."  The 
books,  of  course,  went  as  hot  cakes,  and  as  I  in 
this  manner  distributed  my  whole  stock  "  free, 
gratis  and  for  nothing,"  I  entirely  forgot  that 
they  were  not  only  expensive  but  also  not  paid 
for.  After  some  months,  I  wrote  again  to  the 
publishing  houses,  stating  that  all  the  books  were 
gone,  and  would  not  they,  please,  send  me  a  new 
supply,  as  the  literature  had  proved  a  great  bless- 
ing in  Northland.  To  this  I  received  an  amazing 
prompt  reply.  They  all  said  that  they  were  so 
delighted  and  pleased  because  I  had  SOLD  so 
many  books,  and  was  such  a  good  bookseller,  but 
they  also  told  me  it  was  a  little  custom  of  theirs, 
in  fact  quite  a  habit,  that  they  never  sent  a 
SECOND  supply  before  having  secured  payment 
for  the  first.  Accordingly,  they  very  politely  en- 
closed some  statements  of  account,  asking  me 
to  kindly  send  a  remittance  by  return  mail,  the 
bills  amounting  to  about  two  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars.  THAT  was  the  bright  way  in  which  I 
helped  the  Lord  to  support  me,  and  there  I  stood, 
dismayed  and  crestfallen.  You  see,  I  had  not 
the  very  least  of  experience  in  business  or  figures, 
and  had  entirely  overlooked  the  fact  that  the 
bills  should  be  paid  precisely  at  the  expiration  of 


UNBELIEF  THE  GREATEST  SIN.  II7 

a  thirty  day's  period.  You  may  be  sure  that 
these  bills  came  like  a  thunderbolt  from  a  sum- 
merblue  sky.  I  understood  that  if  I  could  not 
pay,  I  would  have  disgraced  the  name  of  the 
Lord  and  was  not  lit  to  remain  as  a  missionary, 
the  Bible  clearly  stating  that  we  should  not  owe 
anyone  anything.  However,  after  the  first  shock, 
I  tried  to  find  out  what  the  original  cause  to  all 
this  bother  and  trouble  was,  and  I  did  not  have 
to  be  very  bright  or  to  go  very  far  to  decide  that 
the  root  to  all  this  mess  was  nothing  but  a  plain 
case  of  UNBELIEF.  I  had  obtained  a  stock  of 
books,  thiiiking  that  the  Lord  could  not  support 
me  without  me  helping  myself,  and  of  all  sins 
UNBELIEF  is  undoubtedly  the  greatest.  By 
refusing  to  rely  entirely  on  His  Word  and 
promises,  I  had  made  Him  a  liar  —  how  pre- 
sumptuous, how  awful!  (See  James  1:5-8.) 
Therefore,  I  humbled  myself  before  Him,  and 
said,  "  Father,  if  Thou  wilt  help  me  out  of  this 
mess,  I  will  never  again  try  business,  but  trust 
wholly  and  completely  in  Thee  for  my  support." 
To  my  friends,  I  did  not  dare  to  say  a  word  con- 
cerning my  affairs,  fearful  that  they  would  look 
upon  my  "  financial  genious "  and  "  business 
ability "  as  a  clear  case  of  "  crack-brain "  or 
■"  loose  screw." 

A  few  days  later  I  came  to  a  small  town  at 
the  foot  of  the  Lapland  mountains  in  order  to 
conduct  some  missionary  meetings.    Here  I  was 


Il8  A  REMARKABLE  DREAM. 

just  as  much  of  a  stranger  as  elsewhere,  but  the 
ministering  angels  of  the  Lord  had  as  usual  pre- 
ceded and  prepared  both  hearts  and  room  for 
me.  Immediately  after  my  arrival  I  was  brought 
in  contact  with  some  good  Christian  people, 
among  others  an  old  brother  by  name  of  Hauge. 
This  Brother  Hauge  had  never  seen  my  face  be- 
fore, had  not  even  heard  about  me,  yet  he  knew 
in  his  spirit  that  I  was  a  true  servant  of  God, 
and  consequently  he  invited  me  to  his  beautiful 
home.  There  is  indeed  something  very  sweet 
and  wonderful  about  the  bonds  of  Christian  love 
that  unite  the  hearts  of  God's  people  everywhere, 
in  such  a  way  as  to  make  us  all  feel  a  universal 
kinship,  recognizing  the  relationship  even  if 
otherwise  we  are  total  strangers.  Then  it  came  to 
pass  that  the  very  first  night  at  the  home  of 
Brother  Hauge,  he  had  such  a  peculiar  dream. 
He  thought  I  was  alone  in  a  little  vessel  far  out 
on  the  billowy  sea,  and  that  I  carried  such  a 
heavy  load  that  I  was  in  great  danger  of  sinking. 
He  then  seemed  to  hear  a  voice,  telling  him  to 
help  me  out  of  the  burden  in  order  to  make  it 
easier  for  me  to  go  forward.  Thereupon  he 
awoke,  but  fell  asleep  again,  dreaming  the  same 
dream,  and  continued  this  way  through  the  whole 
night.  When  the  morning  came  he  sought  an 
explanation  of  the  dream,  asking  the  Lord  for 
the  meaning  thereof,  being  one  of  these  few 
whf)  are  wise  enough  to  ever  and  always  turn  to 


PRAYER  ANSWERED.  H9 

God  for  guidance  and  instruction.  This  child- 
like spirit  indicates  nevertheless  a  maturity  in 
our  spiritual  life  as  it  is  only  with  a  listening  ear 
and  an  open  heart  as  we  can  grow  in  His  know- 
ledge. In  this  way  it  soon  became  clear  to 
Brother  Hauge  that  there  really  was  a  determin- 
ed meaning  in  the  dream  the  night  before,  and 
somewhat  later  in  the  day  he  called  me  into  his 
office.  "  The  Lord  has  revealed  to  me  that  you 
are  in  some  trouble,"  he  said,  "  what  is  it,  and 
what  can  I  do  for  you?"  I  must  admit  that  I 
was  somewhat  surprised.  To  be  sure,  I  had 
learned  to  know  that  God  answers  prayer,  but 
that  He  would  use  a  dream  to  such  an  effect  was 
rather  unexpected.  Anyhow,  I  put  the  bills  with- 
out delay  before  the  good  old  brother.  He  was  a 
business  man  and  had  never  done  business  in 
quite  the  same  way  as  I,  and  I  noticed  that  it  was 
only  with  difficulty  he  could  hold  himself  from 
laughing  aloud.  Rather  fearful  of  the  judgment 
of  this  experienced  man  of  affairs,  I  was  not  a 
little  relieved  when  he  promptly  offered  to  pay 
it  all.  Not  only  did  he  that  very  day  wipe  out 
my  debt,  but  what  was  more,  he  shouted  "  glory  " 
most  lustily  because  he  had  had  "  the  great  privi- 
lege and  honor  to  be  an  errand-boy  for  God." 

Fortunately,  Mr.  Hauge  was  a  rich  man,  and 
the  extra  outlay  did  not  mean  much  to  him,  but 
as  to  me  the  experience  was  of  utmost  importance 
because  from  that  day  I  got  such  a  glimpse  into 


I20  ILL   IN    LAPLAND. 

my  Father's  heart  that  I  in  fullest  confidence 
steered  away  from  shore.  I  knew  that  every- 
thing would  be  all  right  when  He  was  with  me 
in  the  boat  and  had  the  sails  and  the  rudder  in 
His  own  hand.  From  this  incident  I  also  learned 
that  when  in  need  of  help  not  to  run  around  to 
human  beings  but  instead  go  directly  to  God  who 
has  said,  "  Seek  not  thy  help  in  others  for  I  am 
the  Lord,  thy  God."  Really,  I  think  it  is  a 
perfect  disgrace  for  God  to  have  His  children 
turn  to  others  for  help.  Suppose  you  have  a 
child,  and  your  child  should  take  into  its  head 
to  go  to  your  neighbors  and  ask  for  food, 
clothes  and  money.  Why,  you  would  be  so  dis- 
graced as  disgraced  could  be.  Now,  our  heaven- 
ly Father  is  more  willing  and  able  than  any 
earthly  parent  to  help,  why  should  we  then  go 
to  others.  Let  us  therefore  more  and  more  learn 
to  say  with  the  old  Psalmist,  "  All  my  Springs 
ore  in  Thee." 

After  some  time  of  service  in  this  the  most 
northern  part  of  the  world,  I  became  quite  ill. 
We  missionaries  are  very  much  like  other  people. 
When  we  are  in  a  too  cold  climate  we  are  liable 
to  take  cold,  and  when  we  stay  in  a  too  hot 
country,  we  may  take  fevers.  Having  taken  a  very 
serious  cold,  the  Father  graciously  arranged  for 
some  time  of  rest  and  recuperation,  sending  me 
down  to  the  southern  part  of  Norway.  Arriving 
at  Christiania,  the  Capitol  of  said  country,  I  found 


THE  UNPAID  HOTEL-BILL.  121 

that  the  Salvation  Army  was  holding  its  annual 
conference,  which  caused  all  the  sma-ller  hotels 
and  boarding  houses  to  be  filled  with  visitors. 
To  avoid  staying  out  on  the  streets  during  the 
uight,  I  was  compelled  to  register  at  one  of  the 
most  expensive  hotels  in  the  city.  As  I  had 
quite  a  hard  time,  I  felt  very  grateful  towards 
my  Father  for  such  first-class  accommodations, 
but  as  I  told  Him  so,  I  also  reminded  Him  of  the 
fact  that  I  did  not  have  even  as  much  as  a  cent 
with  which  to  pay  the  forthcoming  hotel  bill. 
"  Thou  knowest,  O  Lord,"  I  said,  "  that  I  have 
gone  forth  upon  my  trip  relying  upon  Thy 
promises  onl}^,  and  I  know  that  Thou  wilt  not  let 
my  faith  be  put  to  shame."  Later  on  in  the  day 
I  most  confidently  laid  my  hand  in  my  Father's 
hand,  and  started  out  in  the  city  for  a  little 
walk.  The  Lord  now  led  me  on  until  I  came  to  a 
small  church  building  and  hearing  the  strains  of 
a  hymn  I  understood  that  there  must  be  some 
kind  of  a  meeting  going  on,  so  I  stepped  inside, 
taking  a  place  among  the  congregation.  Dressed 
as  I  was  in  my  Deaconess  uniform  with  the  Red 
Cross  bonnet  I  was  soon  recognized  by  the  leader 
of  the  meeting,  who  had  read  about  me  and 
seen  my  photograph  in  some  Christian  papers 
and  magazines.  He  immediately  jwent  down 
from  the  platform,  asking  me  to  come  up  and 
give  my  testimony.  It  was  not  necessary  to  ask 
me  twice  and  I  instantly  took  advantage  of  the 


122:  HIS  COFFERS  ARE  FULL. 

opportunity  to  speak  a  word  about  the  faithful- 
ness of  God.  In  fact,  as  soon  as  I  had  mounted 
the  platform,  I  started  to  BOAST.  Of.  course 
I  did  not  brag  about  myself,  but  I  did  exalt  and 
magnify  the  riches  of  my  heavenly  Father. 
Smilingly  I  recited  the  old  song, 

"  My  Father  is  rich  in  houses  and  lands, 
He  holdeth  the  wealth  of  the  world  in  His  hands. 
Of  rubies  and  diamonds,  of  silver  and  gold, 
His  coffers  are  full — He  has  riches  untold. 

I  once  was  an  outcast,  a  stranger  on  earth, 
A  sinner  by  choice,  and  an  alien  by  birth ! 
But  I've  been  adopted,  my  name's  written  down. 
An  heir  to  a  mansion,  a  robe,  and  a  crown. 

A  tent  or  a  cottage,  O,  why  should  I  care? 
They're  building  a  palace  for  me  over  there ; 
Tho  exiled  from  home,  yet  still  I  may  sing: 
'  All  glory  to  God,  I  am  a  child  of  the  King.'  " 

Also  I  told  them  about  the  wonderful 
CHECK-BOOK  which  I  am  using,  saying,  "You 
must  not  look  upon  me  as  a  poor  missionary,  be- 
cause really  to  tell  the  truth  my  bank-book  is 
just  as  fat  as  any  of  yours.  You  see,  I  have 
millions  and  millions  to  my  credit  in  the  heavenly 
Bank.  I  do  not  deal  with  any  of  the  banks 
down  here,  because  they  are  not  to  be  trusted. 
Sometimes  they  go  bankrupt,  and  at  other  times 
robbers  break  in.     They  are  ever  and  .always  so 


THE  UNFAILING  BANK.  I23 

very  uncertain.  As  to  the  Heavenly  Bank,  it 
never  goes  bankrupt,  and  instead  of  giving  only 
five  or  six  per  cent,  it  gives  one  hnudred  per 
cent.  Besides  the  money  you  put  in  other 
banks  you  can  not  take  along  when  you  finally 
leave  this  world.  On  the  other  hand,  every 
penny  or  dollar  which  you  deposit  in  the  Heaven- 
ly Bank  is  yours  for  keep.  In  this  country  you 
have  some  kind  of  critters  you  call  multi-million- 
aires. They  have  also  millions  and  millions  to 
their  credit,  but  the  diflference  between  my  money 
and  theirs  is  that  they  have  so  much  trouble- 
about  their  money.  Sometimes  they  even  lose 
their  souls  on  account  of  it.  As  to  me,  I  haver 
not  the  least  of  worry  or  bother  about  my  mil- 
lions because  my  Father  takes  care  of  them  for 
me,  and  I  only  get  slices  of  this  wealth  of  mine 
just  at  the  times  when  I  need  it.  Then  when  I 
do  need  it  I  write  it  down  in  my  check-book.  If 
I  need  health,  I  write  it  down.  If  I  need  money,, 
I  write  that  down  too,  and  if  I  need  some  special' 
blessing  or  help  out  of  trials,  I  write  it  all  down.. 
THEN  I  SIGN  THE  NAME  OF  JESUS  TO 
THAT  CHECK  and  I  go  to  the  Heavenly  Bank 
where  the  windows  and  doors  are  open  all  the 
time,  night  as  well  as  day,  and  I  always  get  my 
check  cashed,  ON  ACCOUNT  OF  THAT 
NAME  JESUS,  THAT  THE  FATHER  MAY 
BE  GLORIFIED  IN  THE  SON.  THAT  is 
the  secret  of  it  all. 


124  ANOTHER   ANSWER   TO    PRAYER. 

Speaking  like  this  as  though  I  was  at  least  a 
millionaire — yea,  still  more  a  heavenly  princess, 
I  am  sure  that  no  one  in  the  audience  could  get 
the  slightest  impression  or  hint  of  the  fact  that 
my  purse  was  entirely  empty.  For  my  own  part  I 
was  so  happy  in  the  assurance  of  the  wealth  and 
faithfulness  of  my  Father  that  I  had  completely 
forgotten  not  only  my  empty  pocketbook  but 
my  hotel  bill  as  well.  Happily,  however,  the 
Lord  had  not  forgotten,  and  when  I  was  about 
to  leave  the  meeting  He  put  into  the  heart  of  a 
certain  Doctor  Birkeland  to  give  me  a  couple  of 
bank  notes.  The  amount  thus  given  was  exactly 
on  the  cent  what  I  needed  for  my  stay  in  Christi- 
ania,  not  a  penny  too  much  nor  a  penny  too  little. 
Is  not  that  wonderful,  the  Lord  even  takes  the 
trouble  to  count  the  money.  He  is  such  a  good 
and  sure  accountant  who  never  gives  too  little, 
but  will  rather  increase  the  blessings  in  propor- 
tion as  we  are  able  to  bear  it. 

Once,  however,  I  half  thought  that  He  had 
departed  from  this  principle  and  given  me — too 
little.  It  was  like  this :  One  day  there  came  to 
me  a  very  old  and  feeble  sister  in  the  faith,  and 
said,  "  Would  not  you,  please,  write  out  a  check 
for  fifty  dollars.  I  need  it  so  badly."  At  this 
I  thought  in  my  heart,  "  Why  can  not  you  write 
out  the  check  yourself?  The  Heavenly  Treasury 
is  open  just  as  well  for  you  as  for  me."  How- 
ever, after  a  second  thought  I  withheld  this  re- 


LACK  OF  PRACTICE.  I25 

mark,  remembering  that  some  of  us  seem  unable 
to  claim  our  privileges.  The  reasons  for  this  may 
■differ,  but  in  the  case  of  this  old  sister  it  was 
caused  by  faintheartedness  and  lack  of  practice. 
For  my  own  part,  I  am  more  bold  than  back- 
ward, and  as  the  Lord  usually  encourages  my 
boldness,  I  always  press  right  on  until  I  get  what 
I  need  both  for  myself  and  others. 

Now  it  happened  on  a  certain  day  that  I 
asked  to  receive  the  before  mentioned  fifty  dol- 
lars, but  when  the  evening  came  I  had  only  re- 
ceived forty-seven  dollars  for  this  purpose.  It 
was  after  eleven  o'clock  in  the  night  that  I  began 
to  doubt  the  faithfulness  of  the  Lord.  Early  in 
the  morning  I  would  be  obliged  to  take  the  first 
train  for  the  place  where  the  old  sister  resided, 
and  that  very  day  she  was  in  need  of  the  money. 
In  fact,  she  would  have  to  leave  her  little  home 
if  the  money  failed  to  come.  Now  it  was  im- 
possible for  me  to  see  how  the  Lord  could  send 
me  any  help  between  eleven  o'clock  in  the  night 
and  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  I  must  con- 
fess that  I  felt  not  a  little  blue  and  disappointed. 
It  was  not  so  much  on  account  of  the  money,  but 
more  because  I  had  been  accustomed  to  receive 
to  the  very  penny  what  I  had  asked  for,  and  I 
was  distressed  beyond  expression  at  the  thought 
that  the  Lord  had  failed  to  meet  my  expectations. 
Then  in  the  early  morning  dawn  when  I  arrived 
at  the  lonely  depot  there  stood  a  sister  in  the 


126  SWEDISH-LOOKING. 

Lord,  seemingly  waiting  for  someone.  "  Yoie 
are  going  on  the  train  ?"  I  inquired.  "  No,  but 
the  Lord  woke  me  up  and  sent  me  down  here," 
she  said,  "and  I  could  not  imagine  why,  but  now 
I  understand."  With  this  she  took  up  three 
dollars  from  her  pocket  and  handed  them  to  me. 
You  may  be  sure  that  I  felt  small  and  hu- 
miliated. To  think  that  after  all  the  experience- 
I  had  had  of  His  faithfulness  and  love,  yet,  I 
would  still  be  capable  of  doubting  Him. 

In  the  year  of  191 5  I  was  traveling  in  Den- 
mark, going  from  city  to  city  and  from  town  to 
town,  conducting  missionary  meetings.  Of 
course,  you  know  where  Denmark  is  located,  or 
maybe  I  better  explain  that  over  in  Europe  we 
have  a  little  piece  of  land  which  we  call  Scandi- 
navia. It  is  not  much  compared  to  the  United 
States,  but  it  is  something.  It  is  on  the  map  any- 
how, and  here  we  have  three  little  countries, 
Sweden,  Norway  and  Denmark.  I  am  from 
Sweden  which  everybody  ought  to  know  who 
knows  anything  at  all — just  to  look  at  me  and" 
hear  me  talk.  You  see,  I  look  like  a  Swede,  and' 
abuse  the  English  language  like  most  Swedish 
people  do.  If  you  never  saw  a  Swede  before,  I 
would  advise  you  to  take  a  long  look  at  me  so 
you  will  be  able  to  recognize  one  next  time 
you  see  one.  Anyhow,  I  have  been  in  every 
city  and   large  community   in   these  three  king- 


HER  ADOPTIVE-MOTHER.  I27 

•doms,  and  my  last  stopping  place  was  Den- 
mark. 

Now,  at  the  same  time  as  I  was  traveling 
around  in  Denmark  a  certain  lady  missionary 
from  Congo,  Africa,  was  staying  in  Switzerland. 
Her  name,  Miss  Alma  E.  Doering,  had  for  some 
time  been  associated  with  my  name.  In  fact,  I 
was  her  adopted  daughter,  and  had  through  legal 
-and  lawful  proceedings,  received  her  name 
"  Doering."  On  account  of  some  important  mis- 
sionary matters  it  became  absolutely  necessary 
for  me  to  go  to  Switzerland  in  order  to  consult 
with  said  adoptive  mother  of  mine.  We  had 
great  difficulty  in  writing  to  each  other  as  our 
mail  went  through  Germany,  and  most  of  our 
letters  were  destroyed  by  the  German  censor. 
During  the  war,  as  a  nurse  and  correspondent  in 
the  service  of  two  Christian  news  papers,  I  had 
been  in  Germany  time  and  again.  It  was,  how- 
ever, far  from  pleasant  to  travel  through  this 
unhappy  country,  and  I  was  quite  distressed  at 
the  thought  that  I  would  be  obliged  to  cross  the 
border  once  more  on  my  way  to  Switzerland.  By 
the  way,  do  you  know  where  Switzerland  is?  I 
have  noticed  during  my  trips  in  the  United 
States  that  you  folks  do  not  as  a  rule  care  very 
much  for  the  European  map. 

Some  time  ago  when  I  conducted  a  mission- 
ary meeting  in  the  State  of  Iowa  I  told  the  con- 
-gregation    about    some    wonderful    experiences 


128  THE    CABLEGRAM. 

which  the  Lord  had  given  me  in  Switzerland,  and 
noticing  a  somewhat  blank  expression  on  most  of 
the  faces  before  me,  I  said  "Of  course,  you  know 
where  Switzerland  is?"  "Oh  yes,"  answered 
one  of  the  deacons,  "  is  not  Switzerland  a  town 
in  Kansas  ?"  "  No,  you  are  mistaken,  brother," 
the  pastor  hastened  to  correct,  "  Switzerland  is 
the  Capital  of  Sweden."  Switzerland,  however, 
is  as  you  may  know  neither  the  town  in  any 
state,  nor  the  capital  of  any  country,  but  a  little 
Republic,  the  oldest  in  the  world,  located  between 
Germany,  France  and  Italy,  and  in  order  to  get 
to  Switzerland  from  Denmark  or  Scandinavia 
you  have  to  cross  the  whole  Country  of  Germany^ 
During  the  war  the  borders  or  frontier  between 
Germany  and  Switzerland  were  closed  time  and 
again,  and  thus  it  happened  that  one  day  I  re- 
ceived a  cablegram  from  the  other  Miss  Doering- 
stating  that  if  I  desired  to  come  I  should  come 
at  once  as  the  boundary  between  the  two^ 
countries  was  going  to  be  closed.  The  cable- 
gram was  received  late  Sunday  night  at  the  close 
of  my  missionary  meeting,  and  I  understood  that 
if  I  should  be  able  to  get  to  Switzerland  before 
the  border  closed  I  would  be  obliged  to  leave 
early  Monday  morning.  Therefore,  when 
morning  came  I  packed  my  trunk  in  faith  in  God, 
and  put  on  my  simple  Red  Cross  uniform  also  in 
faith  in  God,  and  then  when  all  was  ready  I  told 
liim  that  it  was  only  three  quarters  of  an  hour 


THE   DIGNIFIED   LADY.  1 29 

before  my  train  left,  and  to  please  send  me  the 
money  for  the  ticket  as  soon  as  possible.  As  I 
in  this  manner  was  talking  the  matter  over  with 
my  heavenly  Father,  someone  knocked  at  my 
door,  and  as  I  stepped  out  I  was  confronted  by 
an  exceedingly  dignified  looking  elderly  lady  who- 
frowned  at  me  most  severely.  It  was  quite 
early  in  the  morning,  and  thinking  that  the  dear 
lady  had  gotten  up  on  the  wrong  side  of  the  bed,. 
I  smiled  at  her  encouragingly,  inquiring  as  to 
her  errand.  "  I  suppose  you  are  the  much  talked 
about  "Sister  Bertha,"  the  heavenly  princess?" 
she  said  in  a  way  as  to  indicate  that  this  was  a 
great  crime,  "  My  name  is  Mrs.  de  la  Gardie  of 
Copenhagen."  At  this  I  felt  not  a  little  surprised 
as  I  had  heard  her  spoken  of  often  enough  as 
not  only  the  wealthiest  lady  in  the  whole  city  of 
Copenhagen,  but  also  as  the  most  stingy,  the 
tightest  one  you  ever  saw.  "  Last  night  I  had  a 
dream  about  you,"  the  lady  continued  wearily, 
"  and  I  understand  that  you  are  going  away  on 
some  long  trip  and  that  God  wants  me  to  help 
you  with  the  traveling  expenses."  She  then  pro- 
ceeded to  count  out  some  money  from  her  hand- 
bag, and  as  she  did  so  I  felt  quite  sorry  for  her. 
I  know  how  hard  it  would  be  for  one  like  her 
to  part  with  that  precious  gold,  I  could  almost 
imagine  that  it  would  feel  like  pulling  out  a 
tooth.  "Here  are  two  hundred  Crowns,"  she  said 
crossly,  "is  that  enough?"  "Yes  glory  be  to  God,'" 


130  THE  ENGLISH   LANGUAGE. 

I  shouted,  "  that  is  just  exactly  what  I  need/' 
and  in  my  happiness  over  this  new  answer  to 
prayer  I  ahnost — not  quite — danced  before  the 
dignified  personage,  and  in  a  minute  or  so  she 
began  to  melt  down.  Or  would  you  say  melt 
UP?  Really  I  never  know  how  to  use  your 
language  as  it  ought  to  be  used.  My  Swedish 
tongue  is  such  an  unruly  thing,  always  insisting 
on  the  Swedish  way  although  I  am  trying  my 
uttermost  to  get  it  the  English  way.  The  worst 
part  about  your  language  is  that  sometimes  you 
say  one  thing  and  apparently  mean  another.  For 
instance,  some  time  ago  when  I  arrived  at  the 
Sea  Port  of  New  York  City  I  was  quite  anxious 
to  see  everything  which  was  going  on,  and  in 
order  to  get  the  first  glimpse  of  the  statue  of 
Liberty  and  the  first  glimpse  of  this  beautiful 
country,  I  put  my  head  through  a  window  in  the 
steamer.  As  I  did  so,  somebody  cried,  "  Look 
out !"  and  I,  most  obediently,  stuck  my  head 
still  farther  OUT,  almost  killing  myself.  Then, 
what  do  you  think,  the  silly  man  MEANT  look 
IN,  but  why  he  said  "  look  out  "  when  he  meant 
"  look  in  "  will  forever  remain  one  of  the  mys- 
teries of  the  English  language.  Returning  to  the 
lady,  she  melted  DOWN  (I  suppose  "down" 
is  the  right  expression)  and  before  I  knew  it  she 
put  her  arms  around  my  neck,  crying  most 
brokenheartedly,  "  It  is  SO  hard  to  confess,"  she 
sobbed,  "but  this  is  really  the  first  time  in  my 


ARRESTED   IN    GERMANY.  I3I 

life  that  I  have  tasted  the  sweetness  and  blessed- 
ness of  giving.  It  is  the  first  time  as  I  reaHze 
the  Word  of  God  which  says  that  it  is  more 
blessed  to  give  than  to  receive."  Then  after 
some  hesitation,  she  repeated,  "  It  is  the  first 
time,  but  by  the  help  of  God  it  will  not  be  the 
last."  After  a  few  moments  of  prayer  together, 
I  hurried  down  to  the  depot  and  got  my  train,, 
arriving  at  the  border  of  Switzerland  about  five 
minutes  before  it  closed. 

Among  the  Alps  of  Switzerland  we  then  had 
quite  a  good  time  for  rest  and  recuperation,  and 
finally  after  much  prayer  and  waiting  on  the 
Lord  we  decided  that  I  should  go  on  to  America,, 
the  country  of  freedom  and  liberty,  in  order  to 
arouse  interest  for  the  millions  in  heathen  lands 
who  have  neither  freedom  nor  liberty,  but  live  in 
the  greatest  darkness,  and  suffering  and  sin. 
According  to  this,  I  returned  to  the  Sea  Port  of 
Copenhagen,  Denmark,  by  the  way  of  Germany. 
It  is  a  well  known  fact,  however,  that  whenever 
the  Lord  wants  to  use  us,  the  old  devil  tries  his 
best  to  put  some  obstacles  in  our  way.  (I  hope 
that  I  am  not  considered  as  "  vulgar  "  by  using^ 
the  word  "  devil "  ?  Some  time  ago  when  I 
passed  by  a  certain  church,  a  sign  outside  an- 
nounced that  the  pastor  was  going  to  preach 
about  "  the  Gentleman  of  Hell ".)  Anyhow  as- 
I  went  through  Germany  this  last  time,  I  was 
arrested  as  a  spy  and  delayed  for  a  couple  of 


332  THE  DELAYED  STEAMER. 

-days.  The  Lord,  however,  is  as  we  all  know 
stronger  than  the  devil.  Consequently  it  was  in 
His  power  to  deliver  me,  and  so  thanks  to  His 
faithfulness  I  came  safely  back  to  Copenhagen 
again. 

Shortly  after  my  arrival  at  the  Danish  Capital, 
I  telephoned  to  the  American-Scandinavian 
Steamer-Office  inquiring  as  to  the  departure  of 
their  next  steamer.  After  having  received  the 
information  that  according  to  schedule  the  next 
steamer  would  leave  the  following  day  (this  was 
Thursday  and  the  steamer  would  leave  Friday) 
I  turned  to  God  in  prayer  about  the  matter.  "  I 
•can  not  possibly  get  my  passport,"  I  said,  "  and 
get  read}'  to  leave  tomorrow.  Please,  Father,  do 
delay  that  steamer  so  I  can  go  along."  A  few 
hours  later  I  walked  into  the  steamer-office,  in- 
quiring of  the  agent,  "  How  many  days  is  the 
steamer  delayed?"  "Delayed?"  he  repeated 
wonderingly,  "why  should  it  be  delayed?"  "I 
asked  God  to  put  some  obstacles  in  its  way  so  I 
would  have  time  to  get  ready."  "Asked  God  to 
delay  our  steamer?"  he  said  half  amused  and 
half  indignant,  "  well,  that  is  the  limit.  I  never 
heard  such  nonsense  before."  As  he  spoke  to 
me  like  this,  there  came  a  boy  from  the  telegram 
■office,  handing  him  a  cable.  The  cable  was  from 
London,  England,  from  the  captain  of  the  Amer- 
ican-Scandinavian steamer  — the  steamer  was 
stiW  in  London,  and  the  cable  stated  that  when 


THE   DOUBTING  AGENT.  I33. 

the  Steamer  was  on  its  way  from  the  United 
States  back  home  to  Copenhagen,  the  English 
took  it  into  England  for  investigation.  It  was 
during  war-time,  you  know,  and  they  had  had 
some  German  stuff  on  the  steamer,  and  England 
insisted  on  confiscating  these  goods  belonging  to 
the  enemy.  On  account  of  this  the  steamer 
would  not  be  in  Copenhagen  before  Saturday 
and  would  not  leave  for  America  before  Monday. 
"  Glory  to  God,"  I  shouted,  "can  not  you  see  that 
this  is  an  answer  to  my  prayers?"  "Oh,  no,"^ 
the  agent  protested,  "  it  only  happened  that  way." 
"  Very  well,  you  have  the  right  to  think  as  you 
please,  and  so  have  I ;  but  would  you  please  pre- 
pare my  ticket?  God  willing,  I  am  going  to  sail 
Monday  on  this  steamer  which  He  has  delayed." 
"  All  right,"  said  the  agent,  "  what  class  do  you 
want?  First  or  second  or  third?"  I  hesitated 
just  a  moment,  and  thought,  "  Must  I  really  go 
down  in  third  class?"  I  know  that  down  in 
third  class,  almost  at  the  very  bottom  of  the 
steamer,  the  air  is  so  dreadfully  close  and  un- 
healthy. No  one  can  cross  the  Atlantic  in  third 
class  without  getting  seasick,  and  I  wondered, 
"  Why  should  I  have  to  suffer  for  about  ten 
days  in  the  steerage  ?  Is  not  my  Father  the  King 
of  Kings  ?  Does  not  He  own  all  the  gold  and  all 
the  riches  in  the  world,  and  am  not  I  a  heavenly 
princess,  the  child  of  a  King?  Surely  it  is  just 
as  easy  for  Him  to  give  me  a  second  class  as  a. 


134  THE  ROYAL  TELEPHONE. 

third?"  Having  arrived  at  this  decision,  I  said 
to  the  agent,  "  Well,  I  suppose  you  can  arrange 
for  a  second  class  ticket/'  At  this  he  demanded 
a  deposit  of  fifty  dollars.  "  I  have  no  money 
along  today,"  I  told  him  regretfully,  "  but  I  v^ill 
be  sure  to  pay  you  the  whole  sum  when  I  get  my 
ticket  by  Monday.  Will  not  that  be  all  right?" 
Then  he  became  somewhat  uneasy  and  cautious- 
ly  inquired  if  I  had  the  money  necessary  for  the 
purchase  of  the  ticket.  "  Oh,  yes,  I  have  plenty 
of  money,"  I  answered  just  a  little  bit  loftily, 
"  You  see,  my  Father  is  an  exceedingly  wealthy 
man."  Before  he  heard  about  my  wealthy  Father, 
he  had  been  sitting  down,  having  his  hat  on,  and 
a  big  cigar  in  his  mouth,  but  now  he  stood  up, 
took  off  his  hat,  and  removing  the  cigar,  smiled 
his  kindliest.  "  So  glad  to  hear  of  it,"  he 
said  with  the  utmost  friendliness,  "  maybe  he 
lives  here  in  town?"  "  He  does,"  I  admitted,  "in 
fact  my  Father  has  quite  a  bit  of  property  in  this 
city."  "Well,  well,"  he  exclaimed,  greatly  pleased, 
"he  must  be  one  of  our  millionaires?"  "There 
is  no  doubt  about  that,"  I  assented  cooly.  "  Is 
your  father  at  home,"  he  wondered  further,  "and 
could  we  reach  him  by  the  'phone?  What  is  his 
number?"  "Yes,  Glory  to  God,  He  is  at  home  all 
right,  "  I  replied  with  a  sigh  of  relief,  "  and  what 
is  more,  He  is  always  on  the  line.  The  fact  is, 
my  I'^ather  uses  the  Royal  Telephone-line,  The 
Answer  Before  We  Call  .Svstem,  and  the  number 


NEVTLR   HEARD  ABOUT   IT.  1 35, 

is  only,  '  Glory,'  just  call  Central  and  you  will  get 
*  Glory.'  "  "  The  royal  telephone-line,  the  answer 
before  we  call  system,  number  Glory,"  the  agent 
repeated  in  utter  bewilderment,  "  what  in  the 
world  is  all  that?  I  never  in  my  life  heard  about 
such  a  line  before."  "  Then  I  am  very  sorry  for 
you,"  I  said  pityingly,  "  because,  really  it  is  the 
best  line  there  is,  the  oldest  one  and  the  safest 
one.  It  is  the  line  between  our  hearts  and  our 
heavenly  Father's  heart.  God  is  my  Father.  Do' 
)'0u  know  Him,  Mr.  agent?"  "No,  I  should 
say  not,"  he  answered  wholly  disgusted,  resuming^ 
his  seat  and  smoking  furiously  on  his  cigar,  "and 
certainly  it  will  be  very  interesting  indeed  to  see 
what  the  money  looks  like  which  comes  from 
heaven."  "  Very  well,  I  will  come  here  as  soon 
as  I  get  it,"  I  said  reassuringly,  and  leaving  him 
I  walked  back  to  my  room  at  a  small  hotel. 

Not  a  little  curious  to  know  how  the  Lord 
would  arrange  matters,  I  kneeled  down  in  prayer 
for  the  purpose  of  finding  out.  As  I  approached 
the  Lord,  I  made  no  attempt  to  preach  to  Him. 
I  have  noticed  that  some  good  people  of  God, 
make  up  at  times  in  prayer  meetings  such  long, 
beautiful  sermons.  They  tell  Him  how  the  world 
is  getting  on  and  kind  of  advise  Him  how  things 
ought  to  be  done.  I  never  do  that  way  for  the 
very  simple  reason  that  I  have  learned  to  talk 
to  God  as  a  child  to  its  own  earthly  parent.  You 
remember.  He  is  the  only  Father  I  have  ever  had,. 


136  THE  WELL-KNOWN  VOICE. 

and  so  at  this  instance  I  spoke  to  Him  and  said, 
"  Father,  I  have  gone  in  faith  in  Thee  since  I 
was  a  Httle  girl,  three  years  old,  and  Thou  has 
-always  heard  my  prayers  and  kept  Thy  Word 
and  Thy  promises.     Therefore  I  know  beyond 
a    shadow    of    a    doubt    that    You    will    stand 
.by  me  this  time  too."    Especially  I  asked  Him  in 
Jbehalf  of  the  agent.    "  Not  for  my  sake,  but  for 
Thy  own  name's  sake  I  pray  that  Thou  wouldst 
-manifest  to  this  doubting  agent,  that  Thou  art  a 
*God  that  hearest  and  answerest  prayers."    While 
praying  in  this  simple  manner  as  a  child  to  its 
beloved  and  loving  parent,  I  heard  in  my  heart. 
the  well-known  voice  of  my  heavenly  Father.   It 
came  to  me  as  an  irresistible  impression  or  in- 
spiration and  said,  "Stand  up  at  once  and  go  to 
Mr.    Stannow's   office."      I    did   not   know   Mr. 
Stannow,  but  I  understood  that  my  Father  knew 
him,  and  consequently   I   immediately  arose  in 
order  to  obey  orders.    Sometimes,  you  know,  the 
Lord  speaks  to  us  ver}^  clearly  as  to  the  names 
and  addresses   of  people.     You   remember,   He 
told  Cornelius  to  send  for  Peter,  and  He  stated 
very  distinctly  that  the  apostle  was  living  at  a 
house  close  to  the  seaside  in  care  of  Simon  the 
tanner. 

Now,  however,  I  had  to  go  to  the  City  Direct- 
ory to  fmd  out  if  there  was  recorded  a  man  with 
the  name  of  Stannow  who  had  an  office  in  town. 
There  was,  of  course,  and  shortly  after  I  left 


ANSWER  BEFORE   WE   CALL.  I37 

•on  a  street  car  for  Mr.  Stannow's  office.     Ar- 
riving there,  I  remained  standing  at  the  door  for 
a  moment  or  two,  not  knowing  in  the  least  what 
to  do  or  to  say.     Of  one  thing  I  was  certain,  I 
was  not  in  that  office  to  BEG.    Had  I  not  already 
made  my  wants  known  unto  the  Lord,  and  would 
it  not   then   be  utterly   inconsistent   to   turn   to 
■others?     Mr.  Stannow  was  sitting  at  his  desk, 
busily  writing,  but  presently  he  looked  up,  caught 
sight  of  me,  and  hurried  over  to  the  door  where 
I  was  standing.    "  Oh,  the  heavenly  princess  has 
finally  come  ?"  he  said  delightedly.    "  Yes,  I  have 
■come,"  I  said  somewhat  surprised,  "but  I  had  no 
idea  that  you  were  expecting  me.    In  fact,  I  did 
•not   think   that   you  knew   me."     "  Oh,   yes,   I 
know  you  very  well,"  he  smiled,  "  and  my  wife 
:and  I  have  been  waiting  for  you  for  the  last 
three  months,  but  as  we  did  not  have  your  ad- 
•<iress  we  asked  God  to  send  you  to  us."     "  You 
have  been  waiting  for  me  for  three  months?"  I 
repeated  a  little  stupidly,  "how  can  that  be?   Is 
there  anything  I  can  do  for  you  ?"    "  No,  nothing 
exactly  beside  praying  for  us,"  he  said,  "  but  we 
heard  that  you  were  going  on  to  America,  and 
we  felt  led  to  ask  God  if  there  was  anything  we 
■could  do  for  you.    In  this  way  it  did  not  take  us 
'^long  to  decide  that  we  were  expected  to  pay  for 
your  passage."  Before  we  cry,  the  Lord  answers. 
THAT  is  what  I  call  "The  answer  before  we 
*call  system." 


138  THE    UXEXPLAIXED    PUZZLE. 

Some  time  ago,  I  told  this  very  experience  in 
Miami,  Florida,  and  when  I  had  come  so  far  in 
my  testimony  a  man  in  the  audience  cried  out,. 
''  May  I  say  a  word  ?"  "  You  may,  "  I  consented, 
"if  you  make  it  as  short  as  possible."  "Well, 
I  just  want  to  say  that  I  do  not  believe  in  that 
stuff,"  he  said  excitedly.  "  The  truth  is  I  can 
not  believe  in  anything  which  I  do  not  under- 
stand, and  if  you  are  unable  to  explain  to  me 
how  God  could  answer  prayer  in  such  a  remark- 
able way,  I  simply  will  not  believe  in  it,"  and 
again  he  repeated,  "  I  do  not  believe  in  anything 
which  I  can  not  clearly  understand."  "  Indeed 
I  will  be  glad  to  explain  to  you,"  I  said  in  my 
most  cordial  manner,  "  only  first  of  all  I  would' 
like  you  to  explain  something  which  always  has 
been  a  puzzle  to  me.  You  state  that  you  will  not 
believe  in  anything  which  you  are  unable  to 
understand.  Now,  I  would  be  very  interested 
to  know  how  it  is  that  a  black  cow  can  eat  green, 
grass  and  get  white  milk  and  yellow  butter. 
Please  do  explain  this  for  me.  I  am  sure  you- 
will  know  how?"  This,  however,  he  seemed 
perfectly  unable  to  answer,  and  somewhat  dis- 
appointed I  said,  "  When  you  are  unfit  to  explain 
a  little  thing  like  that,  how  can  you  then  expect 
me  to  explain  the  wonderful  ways  of  God?  If  I 
could  explain  God,  He  would  hardly  be  a  God,. 
He  would  not  be  any  greater  than  I ;  but 
this  I  do  know  antl  understand  that  He  is  per- 


THE    FATHERS    HAND.  I39 

fectly  willing  and  able  to  hear  and  to  answer 
prayer." 

To  return  to  Mr.  Stannow,  he  went  back  to 
his  writing  table  and  wrote  out  a  check  for  three 
hundred  and  fifty  Crowns.     "  Be  sure  to  take  a 
second  class  ticket,"  he  told  me,  "  my  wife  and 
I  would  not  like  for  you  to  go  in  the  steerage." 
To  be  sure  I  was  just  as  happy  as  happy  could 
^be.     Not  so  much  on  account  of  the  money  but 
■  on   account   of    seeing   so    clearly   the    faithful, 
loving  hand  of  my  heavenly  Father.     THAT  is 
■.the  most  wonderful,  and  the  sweetest  in  receiving 
answer  to  prayers,  to  see  how  good  He  is,  how 
full     of     loving     kindness     and     mercy.      So 
1    took     the     check     in     my    hand    and    made 
;a     straight     bee-line     for     the     steamer-office, 
and  came  rushing  in  to  the  agent  at  a  great  rate. 
■"  Here  is  the  money  which  has  come  from  my 
Father  today,"  I  told  him  as  calmly  as  possible, 
"  it  looks  like  this."     Great  tears  came  into  the 
•eyes  of  the  agent,  as  he  said :  "  I  thought,  indeed 
that  there  was  a  supreme  being,  some  kind  of  a 
God  far  away,  but  I  never  knew  before  that  we 
Tiad  such  a  PERSONAL  God,"  and  he  wept 
most  bitterly  because  he  his  whole,  long  life  had 
been  neglecting  and  indifferent  to  such  a  REAL 
Pather  and  Friend. 

I  am  very  sorry  to  say  that  it  is  not  only  the 
-so  called  unbelievers  but  also  some  Christians 
as  well  who  do  not  seem  to  quite  understand,  and 


I40  A    PERSONAL   REMARK. 

who  do  not  have  their  hearts  and  eyes  open  for 
this  most  glorious  truth  that  we  have  such  a  very- 
close  and  personal  Father.  Because  if  we  did,, 
we  would  never  live  on  Grumbling  or  Complain- 
ing Streets,  but  always  reside  on  the  Hallelujah 
Avenue. 

Right  here  I  would  like  very  much  to  make- 
a  personal  remark.  I  know,  of  course,  it  is  not 
very  polite  in  this  country  to  make  personal  re- 
marks, yet,  being  one  of  the  family,  you  will  be 
sure  to  excuse  my  liberties.  Let  me  then  first  of 
all  say  that  as  I  stand  here  and  look  at  the 
congregation,  I  have  got  the  impression  that  some 
of  you  have  JESUS  in  your  hearts  tonight.  You 
are  shining  and  smiling,  and  really  quite  good' 
looking.  As  you  may  know,  the  ONLY  way  to 
get  attractive  is  to  get  the  peace  and  love  and' 
happiness  of  Jesus  in  your  heart.  Face  paint 
and  powder  and  curling  irons  and  pretty  dresses- 
will  not  improve  your  looks  any.  Now,  I  am 
only  wondering  like  this,  and  here  is  where  the- 
remark  comes  in,  do  you  have  on  your  Sunday 
morning  face  tonight  or  your  ever}^-day-kind-of- 
face?  The  kind  of  face  you  have  on  at  your 
home  and  at  your  work?  The  kind  of  face  you; 
have  on  when  everything  goes  wrong?  You  see, 
THAT  is  the  time  to  have  victory  and  glory, 
and  THAT  is  the  time  to  shine  and  to  smile  when 
ever}'thing  goes  upside  down.     Otherwise  what 


ASK  IN   UNWAVERING  FAITH.  I41 

difference  is  there  between  us  and  the  so  called 
ungodly  ? 

Finally  let  me  remind  you  of  the  fact  that 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  coming  back  to  earth 
again,  and  He  is  coming  soon,  and  when  He 
comes  will  He  find  faith  on  earth,  real  victorious 
faith,  that  kind  of  faith  which  OVERCOMES 
the  world  and  conquers  the  devil?  You  have 
read  His  own  Word  which  states  as  plain  as  can 
be  that  without  faith  it  is  absolutely  impossible  to 
please  Him.  Remember,  "ASK  IN  FAITH, 
NOTHING  WAVERING.  For  he  that  wavereth 
is  like  a  wave  of  the  sea  driven  with  the  wind  and 
tossed.  For  let  not  that  man  think  that  he  shall 
receive  anything  of  the  Lord."  Now,  GOOD- 
NIGHT, let  us  meet  in  the  morning.  In  the 
glorious  morning  when  the  Lord  Jesus  comes, 
and  we  shall  see  Him,  the  King  in  His  beauty, 
the  King  in  His  glory.  See  Him  and  be  like 
Him  as  He  is.  GOODNIGHT,  GOODNIGHT." 

"  And  now  let  us  sing  Brother  Lehman's 
song," 

"  Central's  never  busy,  always  on  the  line. 
You  may  hear  from  heaven  almost  any  time, 
'Tis  a  royal  service,  free  for  one  and  all. 
When  you  get  in  trouble,  give  this  Royal  line  a 
call." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

HER  FIRST  FIVE  YEARS  IN  THE 
UNITED  STATES. 

Charlotte  A.  Goldstrom  was  her  name.  She 
was  born  in  Sweden  of  American  parents,  and 
come  to  this  country  at  twelve  years  of  age. 
About  ten  years  ago  she  was  a  young  business 
woman  with  the  brightest  prospects  for  her 
future..  Raised  by  God-fearing  parents  she  had 
from  childhood  trodden  the  paths  of  God,  devot- 
ing the  best  of  her  time  and  talents  to  His 
service.  Ever  and  anon  she  felt  an  increasing 
desire  to  forsake  the  business  world  and  set  out 
for  good  as  a  worker  in  the  vineyard  of  the 
Lord. 

At  the  time  when  this  desire  began  to  assume 
the  form  of  a  conscious  call  she  was  an  active 
member  in  a  Swedish  church  of  considerable 
size.  Her  pastor,  the  Reverend  Erik  Pierson 
was  a  man  after  God's  own  heart,  loved  and 
revered  by  his  congregation.  In  addition  he 
was  of  a  handsome  and  prepossessing  exterior 
and  a  genuine  ])ulpit  orator.  At  any  rate  he 
must  have  possessed  eloquence,  for  it  was  not 
verv  long  till  he  had  convinced  Miss  Goldstrom 
that  the  very  best  route  to  a  really  useful  mis- 
sionary work  would  be  struck  the  moment  she 
<:onsented  to  become  Mrs.  Pierson. 
142 


MRS.  CHARLOTTE  A.  PIERSON. 

Who  twice  has  been  the  instrument  in  God's  hand  to 
save  the  life  of  Miss  Bertha-Charlotta  Doering. 

"  He  that  goeth  forth  and  weepeth,  bearing  precious 
seed,  shall  doubtless  come  again  rejoicing,  bringing  his 
sheaves  with  him."     (Psahn  126:6.) 


144  A    NOBLE    CHARACTER. 

And  so  it  happened  that  Miss  Goldstrom  be- 
came a  charming  httle  minister's  wife,  who  with 
her  business  abiHty  and  above  all  with  her 
splendid  accomplishments  as  a  soloist  was  no 
mean  help  and  blessing  to  the  happy  husband 
in  his  more  and  more  exacting  pastoral  duties. 
■Convinced  as  they  were  that  they  had  followed 
God's  plan  in  their  lives,  they  were  attended  by 
the  Lord's  special  blessings,  and  nothing  could 
be  lovelier  and  happier  than  their  common  home 
Hfe. 

Ten  years  have  gone  by  since  Mrs.  Pierson 
in  the  capacity  of  a  young  bride  and  helpmeet  of 
the  pastor  in  the  Swedish  church  entered  upon 
her  new  field  of  labor.  She  is  still  young,  in 
the  flower  of  her  age,  and  looks  better  than  ever. 
Her  voice  is  richer  and  mellower,  and  her 
•countenance  bears  the  unmistakable  impress  of  a 
holy  life  and  a  noble  character. 

After  a  few  years  of  unmarred  domestic 
happiness  her  husband  was  taken  ill  and  at  last 
became  incapable  of  performing  the  pastoral 
work,  and  about  the  same  time,  after  much 
imi)ortuning  on  the  part  of  her  former  employer, 
she  returned  to  her  office  work. 

Somewhat  later,  on  the  death  of  her  father, 
she  took  into  the  home  her  aged  mother  and  an 
older  homeless  sister.  These  two  with  the  rapid- 
ly declining  husband  now  made  up  the  most  of 
her  world.     For  them   she  toiled   in  her  office 


A   HKAVEN-SENT  FRIEND.  I45 

from  early  morning  till  late  at  night,  and  in 
addition  she  continued  her  labors  as  choir  leader 
and  Sunday  school  teacher,  giving  the  last  of 
her  spare  moments  and  her  hard  earned  means 
to  some  charitable  undertaking  or  other. 

And  so  it  came  to  pass,  that  Mrs.  Pierson, 
as  a  leading  member  of  her  church,  was  re- 
quested to  arrange  an  extra  mission  meeting. 
One  Miss  Bertha-Charlotta  Doering  was  to  visit 
the  congregation  in  order  to  present  the  dire 
need  of  the  heathen  in  far  off  lands,  and  Mrs. 
Pierson  was  asked  to  harbor  her.  This  was  the 
Fourth  of  July,  1917,  and  the  following  day  they 
met  —  Mrs  Pierson  and  the  famous  heavenly 
Princess. 

To  the  heavenly  Princess  Mrs.  Pierson  was 
a  God-send ;  to  Mrs.  Pierson  the  girl  became  a 
new  object  of  love  and  fostering  care. 

A  year  and  a  half  earlier,  or  the  fourth  of 
December,  191 5,  "  Sister  Bertha,"  as  we  will 
name  her  for  brevity's  sake,  had  arrived  in 
America.  The  object  of  her  visit  to  this  country 
was  to  arouse  God's  people  to  a  livelier  interest 
for  heathen  missions  in  Africa.  Wherever 
she  came  the  Lord  opened  hearts  and  doors, 
and  mission  meetings  were  arranged  for  her  in 
churches  of  the  most  divergent  creeds. 

On  her  missionary  journeys  she  never  begged 
for  monev  either   for  her  work  or  for  herself. 


146 


WORKING    FOR   AFRICA. 


TUt.  VA6TNESS 

AFRICA 


Nevertheless  collections  were  often  taken  by 
those  who  had  invited  her,  and  her  traveling 
expenses  were  covered  thereby.  In  addition  she 
would  sometimes  after  her  week  day  evening 
meetings  sell  her  books.  That  is  to  say,  she 
would  distribute  them  for  a  free-will  offering, 
and  those  who  had  no  money  received  them 
gratis.  A  booklet  that  she  had  written  concerning 
God  as  a  prayer  answering  Father  had  an  ex- 
ceptionally good  circulation,  and  seven  thousand 
copies  were  sold  in  less  than  a  year.  Besides  she 
sold  a  book  written  and  published  by  Miss  Alma 
E.  Doering,  her  adoptive  mother. 


REPORT  OF   FUNDS   RECFIVED. 


147 


MISS  ALMA  E.  DOERING. 


Following  is  a  correct  statement  of  funds 
received  during  the  first  five  years  of  Miss 
Bertha    Doering's    work    in    the    United    States : 

For  the  support  of  the  Congo  Missionary 
Miss  Alma  E.  Doering,  who  during  the  war  was 
engaged  in  missionary  work  among  war  captives 
and  fugitives  in  Switzerland,  one  thousand,  five 
hundred  dollars. 

For  Orebro  Missionary  Society's  India  Mis- 
sion, one  thousand  Crowns. 

For  Orebro  Missionary  Society's  Congo  Mis- 
sion, one  thousand  dollars. 

Paid  to  Miss  Alma  E.  Doering  for  2,000 
copies  of  her  book,  sold  for  the  benefit  of  her 
missions,  eight  hundred  dollars. 


148  THE  OREBRO  SOCIETY. 

For  traveling  and  living  expenses  for  Sister 
Bertha,  one  thousand  dollars. 

Sum  total,  four  thousand,  six  hundred  and 
ninety-five  dollars. 

The  one  thousand  dollars  given  by  Miss 
Bertha-Charlotta  Doering  to  Orebro  Missionary 
Society's  Congo  Mission  were  sent  through  Alma 
E.  Doering  directly  to  the  Swedish  Missionaries 
in  Congo,  Africa. 

Right  here  it  may  be  proper  to  say  a  good 
word  for  the  Orebro  Missionary  Society  of 
Orebro,  Sweden.  But  it  is  impossible  to  tell  of 
this  Society  without  at  the  same  time  introducing 
its  founder  and  present  president.  Rev.  John 
Ongman  is  a  man  of  great  faith  in  God,  and  his 
missionary  society  is  a  notable  monument  to 
God's  faithfulness.  Just  as  George  Mueller's 
orphans'  home  and  similar  world  famous  under- 
takings of  other  heroes  of  faith  are  abiding 
witnesses  to  the  reality  of  God's  Word  and 
promises,  so  the  work  of  this  man  of  God  in 
Orebro,  Sweden,  shall  stand  till  the  Lord  comes 
as  a  brightly  shining  beacon  to  the  glory  of  God. 

After  twenty-five  years  as  a  pastor  in  a  Swed- 
ish Baptist  church  of  considerable  size  in  Min- 
nesota Rev.  Ongman  returned  to  Sweden,  having 
received  an  urgent  call  to  the  Philadelphia 
church  in  Orebro.  Twenty-seven  years  have 
gone  by  since  he  accepted  the  call  to  said  church, 
and    having    received    from    the   Lord   a    large 


A  GREAT  MISSIONARY  WORK.  I49 

measure  of  wisdom  and  a  fervent  missionary 
zeal,  he  has,  in  the  good  pleasure  and  with  the 
blessings  of  the  Lord,  accomplished  great  things. 
Each  year  since  his  arrival  in  Sweden  a  two 
months  Bible  school  has  been  held  in  Phila- 
delphia church.  Sister  Bertha  had  the  great 
privilege  of  participating  in  the  Bible  course  of 
1914,  and  thanks  to  the  thorough  and  truly 
Biblical  instruction  received  here,  she  has  been 
tmmoved  by  the  many  new  winds  of  doctrine 
with  which  she  has  met  in  America. 

Besides  this  annual  Bible  school  Rev.  Ong- 
man  has  also  a  four  years'  mission  school,  a  mis- 
sionary college  recognized  by  the  State.  As  to 
the  Orebro  Missionary  Society,  it  has,  by  this 
time,  forty-five  white  missionaries  on  the  foreign 
iield,  in  China,  India,  Africa,  Russia,  and  South 
America,  and  two  hundred  forty  home  mission- 
aries. 

One  heart  and  one  soul  with  Rev.  John  Ong- 
jnan  in  his  world  wide  missionary  enterpise  is 
Mrs.  Hannah  J.  Ongman,  his  lovely  and 
amiable  wife.  Mrs.  Hannah  Ongman  is  usually 
styled  "  the  Mother  of  the  Orebro  Missionary 
Society"  or  "the  Missionary  Mother."  She  it 
is  that  conducts  the  correspondence  with  all  the 
missionaries  and  evangelists  they  have  on  the 
field.  She  it  is  likewise  who  superintends  the 
packing  of  the  missionaries'  outfits  and  their 
Christmas  boxes;  and  besides  all  her  matronly 


REV.  JOHN  ONGMAN  AND   WIFE. 


"  They  that  he  wise  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of 
the  firmament,  and  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness 
as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever."   (Daniel  12:  ^.) 


THE  PRAYER  LEAGUE.  151 

labors  for  school  and  home  she  is  treasurer  for 
a  number  of  mission  branches.  To  Miss  Bertha- 
Charlotta  Doering  she  has  ever  since  1913  been 
a  faithful,  motherly  friend,  and  we  rejoice  for 
whatever  interest  we  can  hereby  arouse  in  behalf 
of  Orebro  Missionary  Society.  As  a  church 
and  as  a  society  they  stand  for  a  whole  and  full 
gospel  and  have  never  been  known  to  dicker  in 
respect  to  the  truth.  Missionary  means  can  be 
sent  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  Orebro  Missionary 
Society,  Orebro,  Sweden. 

A  Prayer  Circle  or  Band  of  Rope  Holders, 
consisting  of  Sister  Bertha's  personal  friends  and 
supporters  was  in  May,  191 9,  legally  incor- 
porated as  a  responsible  missionary  society  under 
the  name  of  "  The  Interdenominational  African 
Mission  and  World  Wide  Mission."  For  the 
sake  of  brevity  the  society  is  usually  called  the 
'•W.  W.  M." 

The  society  is  devoted  to  Apostolic  Christi- 
anity, to  prayer  service  for  a  whole  world,  to 
the  special  needs  of  the  neglected  Indian  tribes 
in  the  United  States,  and  to  the  heathen  in 
Africa  and  India.  The  motto  of  the  society  is: 
"  In  faith  unity,  in  opinion  and  methods  liberty, 
in  all  things  charity."  Another  good  motto  is: 
"Where  the  Scriptures  speak,  we  speak;  where 
the  Scriptures  are  silent,  we  are  silent." 

Headquarters  of  this  Prayer  Circle  is  1715 


152 


THE  OFFICERS. 


"I  am  the  light  of  the  zvorld;  he  that  followeth 
me  shall  not  isjalk  in  darkness,  but  shall  Jiai'e  the 
light  of  life." — Jesus. 


Cherokee  Ave.,  Los  Angeles,  California.  Mrs. 
Charlotte  A.  Pierson  is  president,  most  of  the 
memhcrs  being  ladies.  Mrs.  Frieda  Valentine 
also  a  near  friend  of  Sister  Bertha,  is  the  treas- 


171 5   CHEROKEE  AVENUE. 


153. 


urer.     Both  can  be  reached  by  means  of  above, 
address. 

In  January,  1916,  Sister  Bertha  for  the  first 
time  came  to  the  Mueller  family  at  171 5  Chero- 
kee Avenue  with  letters  of  introduction  from 
Alma  E.  Doering.  The  Muellers  had  lived  next 
door  to  Alma  Doering's  home,  and  out  of  love 
for  and  interest  in  "  Sister  Alma  "  they  received 
her  adopted  daughter  with  open  arms.  To  this 
lovely  Los  Angeles  home  our  heavenly  Princess 
has  betaken  herself  time  and  again.  In  it  she 
has  been  a  guest  for  weeks  and  months  at  a  time. 
Mrs.  Frieda  Valentine,  one  of  the  handsome,  full 
grown  daughters  of  the  home,  in  time  became 
Sister  Bertha's  intimate  friend  and  was  at  length 
chosen  treasurer  of  the  Prayer  League,  "W.  W.. 
M." 


154  THE    SELF-SACRIFICING    FRIEND. 

After  the  first  two  years  of  constant  travel 
and  daily  mission  meetings  in  America  Sister 
Bertha  suffered  a  severe  nervous  breakdown  as 
a  result  of  overwork.  Every  dollar  that  she 
could  possibly  spare  during  these  years  of  in- 
cessant labor  had  been  sent  to  Alma  E.  Doering, 
representative  and  oldest  missionaiy  of  the 
Congo  Inland  Mission,  for  distribution  among 
the  several  mission  branches.  Penniless  and  ill 
as  she  now  was  she  had  occasion  to  prove  the 
truth  of  the  old  adage,  "  A  friend  in  need  is  a 
friend  in  deed." 

Thanks  to  the  loyalty  and  self-sacrificing 
spirit  that  always  characterized  Mrs.  Charlotte 
A  Pierson,  Sister  Bertha  was  permitted  for  nine- 
teen whole  months  to  be  in  perfect  rest  and  quiet. 
These  nineteen  months  were  spent  at  a  Christian 
convalescent  home  in  Florida,  and  for  two 
months  of  this  time  Mrs.  Pierson  was  with  her. 
They  occupied  a  little  cottage  together,  and  for 
the  first  time  in  Sister  Bertha's  life  she  ex- 
perienced what  it  is  to  be  mothered  and  cherished. 
A  little  later,  after  Mrs.  Pierson  had  returned  to 
her  home  and  her  office,  she  lost  all  her  savings 
through  a  bank  failure.  Instead  of  informing 
Sister  Bertha  what  had  happened  she  went  to 
another  bank  and  borrowed  money,  and  then  sent 
her  several  hundred  dollars  in  order  to  keep 
her  at  the  rest  home  in  Florida. 

In  the  Bible  we  have  in  the  story  of  Jonathan 


JONATHAN   AND  DAVID.  I  55 

and  David  a  striking  example  of  self -sacrificing^ 
friendship.  In  the  First  Book  of  Samuel,  the 
1 8th  chapter,  it  is  described  in  the  following  ex- 
pressive terms :  "  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  the 
soul  of  Jonathan  was  knit  with  the  soul  of  David, 
and  Jonathan  loved  him  as  his  own  soul.  Then 
Jonathan  and  David  made  a  covenant,  and  Jona- 
than delighted  much  in  David."  Another  ex- 
ample of  all-sacrificing  friendship  is  found  in 
the  Book  of  Ruth,  the  first  chapter:  "  And  Ruth, 
said :  Intreat  me  not  to  leave  thee,  or  to  return 
from  following  after  thee,  for  whither*  thou 
goest  I  will  go,  and  where  thou  lodgest  I  will 
lodge ;  thy  people  shall  be  my  people,  and  thy 
God  my  God.  Where  thou  diest  will  I  die,  and 
there  will  I  be  buried :  the  Lord  do  so  to  me, 
and  more  also,  if  ought  but  death  part  thee  and 
me." 

In  the  Book  of  Proverbs  are  given  the  quali- 
ties of  a  true  friend:  "A  friend  loveth  at  all 
times,"  it  is  said  in  chapter  17:  17,  and  again: 
'■  There  is  a  friend  that  sticketh  closer  than  a 
brother"  (18:24).  "Faithful  are  the  wounds 
of  a  friend"  (27:6).  "Ointment  and  perfume 
rejoice  the  heart,  so  doth  the  sweetness  of  a 
man's  friend  by  hearty  counsel  "  {2y.  9).  "  Iron 
sharpeneth  iron,  so  a  man  sharpeneth  the  counte- 
nance of  his  friend"  {2^:  17). 

Still  stronger  words  are  used  by  the  Lord 
Himself.     In  John   14:13   He  says:    "Greater 


156  JESUS  AND  JOHN. 

love  hath  no  man  than  this,  that  a  man  lay  down 
his  life  for  his  friends."  The  beautiful  friend- 
ship between  our  Lord  and  His  disciple  John  is 
■recorded  in  the  following  words :  "  Now  there 
was  leaning  on  Jesus'  bosom  one  of  His  disciples, 
whom  Jesus  loved.  Simon  Peter  therefore 
beckoned  to  him,  that  he  should  ask  who  it 
should  be  of  whom  he  spake.  He  then  lying  on 
Jesus'  breast  saith  unto  Him,  Who  is  it?"  Later 
on  it  is  told,  "When  Jesus  saw  His  mother^  and 
the  disciple  standing  by,  whom  He  loved,  He 
saith  unto  His  mother.  Woman  behold  thy  son. 
Then  saith  He  to  the  disciple,  Behold  thy  mother ! 
and  from  that  hour  that  disciple  took  her  unto 
his  own  home." 

The  last  mention  of  this  special  love  between 
Jesus  and  John  is  given  in  the  very  last  chapter 
of  the  gospel.  "  Then  Peter,  turning  about,  seeth 
the  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved  following;  which 
also  leaned  on  His  breast  at  supper  ....  and 
Peter  seeing  him  saith  to  Jesus,  Lord  and  what 
shall  this  man  do?  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  If  I 
will  that  he  tarry  till  I  come  what  is  that  to 
thee?  follow  thou  me."  There  also  seems  to 
have  existed  a  warm  friendship  between  Jesus 
and  Lazarus,  the  brother  at  the  Bethany  home. 
"  Therefore  his  sisters  sent  unto  him,  saying, 
Lord,  behold,  he  whom  thou  lovest  is  sick." 
"  When  Jesus  heard  that,  He  said,  This  sickness 
is  not  unto  death,  but  for  the  gloiy  of  God,  that 


SCRIPTURAL  FRIENDSHIP.  I57 

:lhe  Son  of  God  might  be  glorified  thereby."  It  is 
further  told  that  outside  the  grave  of  Lazarus 
"  He  groaned  in  the  Spirit,  and  was  troubled, 
and  said  Where  have  ye  laid  him?  ....  and 
Jesus  wept.  Then  said  the  Jews,  Behold  how 
He  loved  him." 

It  was  in  connection  with  the  death  of  Laza- 
rus that  Jesus  uttered  these  most  comforting 
words,  "  I  am  the  resurrection,  and  the  life :  he 
that  believeth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet 
shall  he  live,  and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth 
in  me  shall  never  die.    Believest  thou  this?" 

Judging  by  all  this  it  is  in  accordance  with 
God's  will  and  plan  that  we  should  enjoy  the 
blessing  that  lies  in  perfect  friendship  and  the 
possession  of  a  real  friend.  The  greatest  earthly 
blessing  and  happiness  that  ever  came  into  Sister 
Bertha's  life  came  along  with  Mrs.  Pierson.  Her 
friendship  and  faithfulness,  her  honesty  and 
sterling  character,  her  trustworthiness  and  utter 
loyalty  has  been  and  is  the  one  great  thing  in 
the  life  of  our  heavenly  Princess.  The  altruistic, 
all- forgiving  and  self-sacrificing  love  of  Jesus 
Christ,  exemplified  in  the  beautiful  life  and 
lovely  character  of  Mrs.  Pierson,  revealed  to 
her  lonely  heart  as  never  before  the  disposition 
of  her  heavenly  Father,  and  more  than  once  she 
has  said  to  the  Lord :  "  Never  more  will  I  doubt 
Thy  personal  sympathy  for  us  after  catching 
such  a  vivid  glimpse  of  Thy  love.  Thy  will.  Thy 


158  THE    LEGAL    REPRESENTATIVE. 

character,  in  the  humble  hfe  of  this  hand-maidea 
of  Thine." 

For  the  enlightenment  of  "Sister  Bertha's" 
friends  and  supporters  it  may  here  be  advisable 
to  add  that  as  she  is  the  substitute  for  Mrs. 
Pierson  on  the  missionary  field  so  is  Mrs.  Pierson 
the  legally  authorized  representative  in  this 
country  for  Miss  Bertha-Charlotta  Doering. 
During  Miss  Bertha's  stay  in  such  part  of 
Alaska  and  other  fields  where  the  mail  is  slow 
and  uncertain,  Mrs.  Pierson  will  open  any  and 
all  letters,  having  unlimited  power  to  decide  and 
reply  to  any  matter  which  may  demand  a  prompt 
answer. 

An}'  decision  or  statement  above  the  signa- 
ture of  "  C.  A.  Pierson "  or  as  her  name  is- 
written  the  Swedish  way,  "C.  A.  Person",  will 
have  the  full  and  absolute  endorsement  of  Miss 
Bertha-Charlotta  Doering.  Mrs.  Pierson's  de- 
votion to  God  and  His  interest,  her  loyalty  and 
love  to  our  heavenly  Princess,  her  excellent 
reputation  and  fine  business  ability  have  for 
years  been  tested  and  are  too  well-known  ta 
warrant  anything  but  a  wholehearted  confidence 
and  trust. 

Mrs.  Pierson  may  be  reached  through  Miss 
Doering's  California  address. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE  HAPPY  ENDING. 

It  is  going  to  be  hard  to  write  a  personal  note 
like  this  without  working  the  Uttle  pronoun  "  I" 
overtime,  but  in  order  to  get  into  a  more  person- 
al touch  with  my  readers  I  shall  proceed  to  clamp 
down  the  "  I  "  key  on  my  typewriter  (first  per- 
sonal, singular,  perpendicular) .  After  having  been 
in  this  country  for  more  than  five  years,  I  am 
now  a  full-fledged  American,  happy,  proud,  and 
grateful  to  be  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes.  It 
is  even  possible  that  I  am  more  of  an  American 
than  some  persons  who  are  born  and  raised  in 
this  country.  They  are  Americans  citizens  be- 
cause they  were  born  such,  and  without  having 
contributed  anything  to  it,  while  I  am  an  Amer- 
ican because,  after  many  journeys  and  experi- 
ences in  other  countries,  I  am  perfectly  and  ab- 
solutely convinced  that  the  United  States  is  the 
most  glorious  country  in  the  world.  In  other 
words,  I  love  it  and  have  adopted  it  as  my  own, 
because  I  would  be  unable  to  feel  at  home  any- 
where else. 

Yet  at  the  same  time  that  I  love  and  prize 
America  above  all  other  countries,  not  excepting 
my  own  native  country,  I  am  far  from  blind  to 
its  faults.  There  are  especially  two  deplorable 
conditions,  which  I  fervently  wish  and  pray 
159 


l6o  EXCEPTIONAL  CHILDREN. 

might  be  remedied.  One  is  the  indifference  with 
which  the  feeble-minded  are  treated.  Please  do 
not  confuse  the  terms  insane  and  feeble-minded. 
An  insane  person  is  one  who  has  had  his  mental 
faculties  and  lost  them_,  while  a  feeble-minded 
person  is  one  who  never  has  had  any  great  de- 
gree of  intelligence  and  never  can  get  it.  To 
their  lot  has  fallen  a  perpetual  childhood.  We 
know  that  sixteen  states  have  failed  to  establish 
institutions  for  the  feeble-minded,  and  that  in 
each  of  the  other  thirty-two  the  provision  made 
is  woefully  inadequate.  We  know  that  in  every 
state  feeble-minded  persons  are  in  hospitals  for 
the  insane,  where  they  do  not  belong,  that  many 
more  are  improperly  classified  with  and  treated 
as  criminals  and  delinquents,  that  many  more  are 
in  almshouses,  where,  in  a  majority  of  cases, 
they  are  not  and  cannot  be  adequately  protected. 
We  know  that  a  greater  number,  greater  than 
all  the  foregoing,  are  at  large  in  their  com- 
munities, free  to  perpetuate  their  kind.  We 
know  that  feeble-mindedness  is  inherited,  and 
that  to  this  fact  are  due  at  least  two-thirds  of 
our  present  feeble-minded  population.  We  know 
tliat  the  feeble-minded  mother  is  more  prolific 
than  the  normal  mother.  We  know  that  the 
feeble-minded  are  lacking  in  judgment  and 
power  of  resisting  evil  influences,  and  that  they 
are  therefore  unable  to  adjust  themselves  to 
normal  life  in  the  community. 


NEGLECTED    UNFORTUNATES.  l6l 

After  having  spent  two  weeks  at  aforemen- 
tioned convalescent  home  in  Florida,  I  one  day 
took  an  extended  walk  beyond  the  sanitarium 
grounds.  I  then  saw  quiet  a  large  feeble-minded 
boy,  who  roamed  at  will  about  the  streets.  He 
was  a  target  for  the  other  childrens'  jests  and 
gave  the  impression  of  being  utterly  uncomfort- 
able and  unhappy.  As  I  had  nothing  else  to  do,  I 
began  to  investigate  regarding  the  condition  of 
the  feeble-minded  in  Florida,  and  I  found  that 
more  than  one  thousand  of  them  were  without 
care  or  protection.  For  several  months  I  then 
conducted  a  campaign,  during  which  I  wrote 
article  after  article  in  the  leading  Florida  news- 
papers concerning  the  necessity  of  an  institution 
for  these  unfortunates.  Hon.  W.  F.  Stovall,  the 
president  of  the  Tampa  Tribune  (the  largest  and 
best  Daily  in  Florida),  was  the  first  to  encourage 
me.  In  one  of  his  letters  he  wrote :  "  I  think 
3'Our  suggestion  about  establishing  an  institution 
for  feeble-minded  of  the  state  is  a  most  admir- 
able one,  and  I  assure  you  that  it  will  be  a 
pleasure  to  the  Tribune  to  give  such  a  proposi- 
tion its  enthusiastic  and  moral  support."  Shortly 
after  receiving  this  assurance  I  also  got  several 
encouraging  letters  from  the  Governor.  "  Dear 
Madam,"  he  wrote,  "  I  have  your  letter  re- 
garding the  feeble-minded  of  this  State,  and  I 
assure  you  again  that  I  will  take  this  matter  up 
with  the  Cabinet  and  will  also  bring  it  before  the- 


l62  UNCIVILIZED    INDIAN-TRIBES. 

■coming  Legislature,  etc."  I  even  had  a  lengthy 
interview  with  the  Governor  at  his  private  office, 
as  well  as  several  visits  with  the  leading  news- 
paper men  of  the  State.  At  the  next  legislature 
the  Lord  answered  my  prayers  in  behalf  of  the 
feeble-minded,  and  half  a  million  dollars  were 
granted  for  building  an  institution  for  these 
unfortunates  in  Florida. 

The  other  sore  spot  that  has  attracted  my  most 
especial  attention  is  the  conditions  existing  among 
certain  Indian  tribes  *in  this  land.  The  Indian 
population  of  the  United  States,  exclusive  of 
Alaska,  where  the  condtions  are  dark,  on  June 
30,  1919,  reached  a  grand  total  of  333,702.  Of 
these  there  are  five  civilized  tribes  including 
freedmen  and  intermarried  whites  altogether 
101,702.  Exclusive  of  the  five  civilized  tribes 
we  have  in  this  countiy  232,196  uncivilized 
Indians.  The  greatest  number  of  Indians  live 
in  Oklahoma,  where  we  have  119,101;  next 
comes  Arizona  with  42,346.  The  third  in  order 
is  New  Mexico  with  20,581,  and  the  fourth  state 
in  order  is  California  with  16,215.  Other  states 
with  a  large  number  of  Indians  are  Minnesota 
with  12,447,  Montana  with  12,138,  Washington 
with  10,988,  Wisconsin  with  10,211,  etc. 

Time  and  again  I  have  been  among  the  Indians 
in  California  and  Arizona,  and  my  heart  has 
bled  with  ])ity  for  this  neglected  people.  On  the 
llopi   reservation  the  Baptist  are  doing  a  very 


HEATHENS    IN    UNITED    STATES.  l6^. 

good  work.  Yet,  the  fact  remains  that  the  larger 
number  of  Indians  are  entirely  unprovided  for, 
and  out  of  reach  of  any  Christian  mission.  A 
statement  approved  by  the  Presbytery  of  North- 
ern Arizona  concerning  the  Navajo  Indians,  says,. 
"  The  Navajo  people,  though  the  real  Amer- 
icans, present  conditions  similar  to  those  we  tind 
in  Asia  or  Africa.  Here  are  ancient  customs,  a 
strange  language,  a  religion  as  ignorant  of  God 
as  the  religion  of  China,  India  or  x\frica.  Here 
are  worshippers  of  the  sun  god  like  the  ancient 
Phoenicians,  or  the  modern  Fire  Worshippers  of 
Mesopotamia.  Here  men  have  as  many  wives 
as  the  Mohammendans.  Here  are  sorcerers  who 
profess  to  drive  out  evil  spirits,  like  the  exorcists 
of  Korea.  Here  men  and  women  and  little  chil- 
dren are  as  fearful  of  a  dead  body  as  the  pagans 
of  East  Africa  who  contended  with  the  faithful 
Susi  over  the  body  of  Livingstone.  Prayers  are 
offered  to  the  sun,  the  dawn,  the  earth,  the 
mountains,  the  wind,  and  even  to  bears  and 
reptiles.  Sad  to  relate,  in  some  parts  of  this 
field  priests  of  Rome  are  seeking  to  add  to  this- 
list  a  great  number  of  '  saints  ',  good  and  bad. 
The  Navajos  are  a  great  and  growing  tribe.  In 
1870  they  numbered  7,000.  Today  there  are- 
35,500  and  they  are  increasing  at  the  rate  of  five 
per  cent  each  year.  Their  reservation  cannot 
contain  them,  so  they  have  overflowed  and  about 
one  third  of  the  tribe  are  living  on  the  public 


1164  ON  THE  ALTAR  OF   MISSION. 

domain."  How  can  such  conditions  exist  ?  Is 
it  my  fault?  Is  it  yours?  Is  it  because  you  and 
.  I  have  been  unable  to  partake  with  our  Master  in 
His  great  compassion  for  a  fallen  world?  Is  it 
because  we  have  not  lived  close  enough  to  His 
heart  to  have  fellowship  with  Him  in  His  suffer- 
ing for  those  without  Him?  Is  it  because  we 
_have  loved  our  pocketbooks  and  our  own  interests 
and  our  own  comforts  more  than  we  have  loved 
Him  and  His  interests?  For  my  own  part,  I 
am  happy  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  great  privilege 
and  honor  of  lying  as  a  whole  offering  on  His 
altar.  He  has  been  so  full  of  faithfulness  and 
love  that  I  do  not  feel  I  can  give  Him  anything 
less  than  my  whole  life,  my  whole  strength,  my 
all  and  all  on  His  altar.  I  will  tell  you  the  best 
place  in  heaven  and  on  earth  is  to  be  in  the  very 
fulness  of  His  will  and  to  be  a  co-worker  with 
Him. 

For  years  I  believed  myself  called  to  go  to 
Africa,  where  there  are  hundreds  of  millions 
without  the  gospel.  Several  missionary  societies 
were  willing  to  send  me,  and  all  doors  seemed 
open.  However,  as  time  wore  on  it  became  more 
and  more  evident  that  my  call  to  Africa  was  a 
call  to  pray  and  not  a  call  to  go.  The  reason 
for  this  was  my  ever  failing  health.  In  climates 
such  as  Arizona  and  California,  even  Alaska  in 
summer-time,  I  am  well  and  strong,  capable  of 
any  amount  of  work.    On  the  contrary,  in  other 


PLANS  FOR  THE  FUTURE.  1 65 

climates,  especially  where  it  is  cold  and  damp,  my 
working  ability  is  very  much  diminished. 

Nevertheless,  the  Lord  has  permitted  me  to 
awaken  an  interest  for  Africa's  swarthy  millions 
wherever  I  have  put  in  an  appearance,  and  it 
is  my  desire  to  continue  to  support  a  missionary 
on  this  field.  By  thus  keeping  a  substitute  on 
the  missionary  field  of  Africa  I  do  not  feel  that 
my  mistake  as  to  my  call  to  go  there  in  person 
has  had  any  sinister  consequences  whatever. 

With  Mrs.  Charlotte  A.  Pierson  as  my  most 
intimate  co-worker  and  with  the  assistance  of 
other  trustworthy  friends,  I  now  set  out  with 
this  as  my  aim:  A  whole  and  full  gospel  to  the- 
neglected  and  uncivilized  Indian  tribes  of  this 
country.  My  one  great  ambition  is  to  erect 
another  monument  to  the  glory  of  God  and  to 
His  faithfulness  and  willingness  to  hear  and 
answer  prayers. 

This  is  now  the  happy  ending,  that  in  the  will 
of  God  I  am  finally  at  perfect  rest.  Nothing 
can  better  describe  my  present  state  of  soul  and 
mind  than  the  following  song  of  F.  M.  Lehman 
of  Pasadena,  California: 

I  say  "  Amen  "  to  Jesus,  whatever  it  may  be, 
Though  Satan  tempt  me  sorely,  God  will  take 

care  of  me; 
My  plans  and  my  ambitions  I  glady  all  resign. 
That  I  may  be  His  only,  and  Jesus  only  mine. 


1 66  HE  GIVES   PERFECT  REST. 

I    say    "  Amen "    when    trouble    comes    stalking 

through  the  door, 
'Tis  then  I  look  to  Jesus,  who  all  my  troubles 

bore, 
For  after  all  is  over  His  beauty  I  shall  see; 
I  know  the  way  He  orders  is  always  best  for  me. 

I   sav  "  Amen  "  to  trials,   'tis  then  I  love  Him 

best; 
They  draw  me  closer  to  Him  each  providential 

test; 
The  trials  make   me   stronger  than   I   had  been 

before, 
For  when  I  am  delivered  I  love  my  Jesus  more. 

1  say  "Amen"  to  sorrow,  He  sanctifies  my  grief ; 
He  sends  the  tears  in  blessing  to  give  the  heart 

relief, 
So  ril  not  fret  or  murmur — He  always  knows. 

what's  best, — 
Since  Fve  said  "  Yes  "  to  Jesus,  He  gives  me 

perfect  rest. 

It's  always  "  Amen,"  "  Jesus,"  it's  "  Amen  "  all 

the  time, 
It's  "  Amen  "  when  in  sorrow,  it's  "  Amen,"  rain 

or  shine ; 
It's  "  Yes  "  to  Ciod   forever,   He  knows  what's 

best  for  me ; 
So  I  will  still  say  "  Amen,"  whatever  it  may  be. 


-A    CALL    FOR    ROPE  HOLDERS.  1 67" 

This  last  page  I  am  writing  on  my  thirty-first 
birthday,  May  17,  1921.  Anew  I  have  dedicated 
my  life  to  a  whole-hearted  and  all-absorbing 
service  for  the  Master,  who  is  my  Savior,  Sancti- 
fier,  Healer  and  coming  King.  As  never  before 
I  realize  that  the  time  is  short,  and  the  necessity 
of  haste,  promptness  and  zeal  in  His  work. 

You  may  be  interested  to  know  that  in  con- 
nection with  our  missionary  efforts  among  the 
heathens,  we  will  also  in  the  near  future,  God 
willing,  open  an  ideal  home  for  feeble-minded 
children.  Idiots,  Imbeciles,  and  low  grade  Mor- 
ons, who  usually  are  refused  entrance  in  the 
State  Institutions,  will  gladly  be  welcomed  and 
lovingly  cared  for.  Further  information  con- 
cerning this  proposed  "  Lighthouse  "  may  be  had 
by  directing  your  inquiries  to  my  ever  faithful 
and  loyal  friends,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bryan  Vam,. 
Durant,  Florida. 

Now  if  you  have  got  any  blessing  or  help- 
out  of  this  little  book,  I  wish  you  would  write  to 
my  California  address  and  tell  me  so.  Should 
you  desire  to  join  our  World  Wide  Mission  Band, 
be  assured  of  a  hearty  welcome,  provided  yoUr 
purpose  is  to  be  a  Ropeholder  in  real  deed  and  in 
truth. 

Yours  in  Royal  Service, 

Bertha-Charlotta  Doering. 

171 5  Cherokee  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 


1 


"THE  WAY  OF  FAITH." 

A  paper  of  i6  pages,  published  every  Thurs- 
day at  Columbia,  S.  C,  is  committed  to  the  teach- 
ing of  Justification,  Sanctilication,  The  Second 
Coming  of  Christ,  Divine  Healing,  and  all  truths 
pertaining  to  the  Christian  Life.  It  is  an  earnest 
advocate  for  City  Missions  at  Home,  and  the 
work  of  World-wide  Evangelism. 

Under  the  Editorship  of  the  Rev.  J.  M.  Pike 
this  paper  has  proved  a  great  help  to  thousands 
of  God's  children  all  over  the  land.  A  special 
blessing  of  God  seems  to  rest  over  this  wonderful 
paper-missionary,  and  it  is  our  belief  that  of  all 
the  full  Gospel  papers  and  magazines  in  this 
country,  THE  WAY  OF  FAITH  UN- 
DOUBTEDLY IS  THE  VERY  BEST. 

Dr.  J.  M.  Pike,  the  Editor,  is  also  a  great 
man  of  God,  a  well-known  hero  in  the  faith. 
Although  past  his  eighty  years,  he  is  still  young 
and  strong  in  mind  and  appearance.  To  Miss 
Bertha-Charlotta  Doering,  he  has  always  been  a 
good,  fatherly  friend.  Time  and  again,  he  has 
recommended  her  and  her  work,  in  his  widely 
circulated  pai)er,  and  given  generous  space  to 
her,  at  times,  somewhat  lengthy  articles. 

The  subscription  price  of  this  line  and  first- 
class  paper  is  only  $1.50  a  year,  all  renewals  and 
all  new  subscriptions  should  be  sent  direct  to  the 
iulitor,  Rev.  John  M.  Pike,  Columbia,  S.  C. 


I 


"FAITH  AND  TRUTH" 


Is  a  fine  little  paper  of  eight  pages,  published 
on  the  I  St  and  15th  of  each  month  in  the  interest 
of  the  Toccoa  Orphanage,  the  promotion  of 
Scriptural  Holiness  and  Divine  Healing.  The 
Editors,  Rev.  E.  H.  Blake  and  Miss  Pinkie  Blake 
as  well  as  the  Rev.  and  Mrs.  A.  C.  Craft,  the 
General  Manager  and  the  Matron  of  the  Orphan- 
age, are  warm,  personal  friends  to  Miss  Bertha- 
Charlotta  Doering.  The  Orphanage  as  well  as 
the  paper,  "  Faith  and  Truth,"  are  founded  on 
the  promises  of  God  and  stand  as  true  monu- 
ments on  the  way  of  faith.  The  following  is  a 
recommendation,  signed  by  all  the  leading  citizens 
of  the  city  of  Toccoa,  the  Mayor,  the  ex-mayor, 
the  Clerks  of  the  Superior  Court,  the  Cashiers 
of  the  Banks,  the  Lawyers,  Physicians,  Pastors 
of  the  different  churches^  and  Merchants,  etc. : 

"  We,  the  undersigned  citizens  of  Toccoa, 
Stephens  County,  Georgia,  cheerfully  recommend 
the  Toccoa  Orphanage  to  the  general  public,  as 
being  a  worthy  institution,  doing  much  good, 
rescuing  the  fallen,  providing  homes  for  and 
taking  care  of  hundreds  of  destitute  and  orphan 
children,  and  we  also  recommend  the  managers 
of  this  institution  as  being  well  qualified  and 
trustworthy  to  rightfully  manage  the  institution, 
and  all  contributions  received  by  them  will  be 
applied  in  the  spirit  given." 

All  free-will  offerings  should  be  sent  direct 
to  the  Manager,  Rev.  A.  C.  Craft,  Toccoa,  Ga. 

The  subscription  price  of  the  paper  is  one 
dollar  per  year,  and  should  be  sent  to  the  Editor, 
Rev.  E.  H.  Blake,  Toccoa,  Ga. 


^0^— BB-^ni^— uo^— uit^— iiti'^— uii'^iui'^iiM'^— UU'^— mi^— iiu—- titi^— nil— -mi-^mi<— iiii'^— 'UN        lui        i 

j         SUNDAY  SCHOOL  SUPPLIES. 

The  Reverend  G.  F.  Taylor  of  Royston, 
Georgia,  is  a  well-known  Leader  in  The  Pente- 
costal Holiness  Church,  a  Southern  Holiness 
Organization.  He  is  also  the  Editor  of  The 
Pentecostal  Holiness  Advocate,  a  weekly  paper 
of  i6  pages,  and  the  Manager  of  the  Pentecostal 
Holiness  Publishing  House  which  printed  this 
book.  He  is  finally,  together  with  his  lovely, 
little  wife,  a  faithful,  personal  friend  of  Miss 
Bertha-Charlotta  Doering  which  ought  to  count 
quite  a  bit  in  the  interest  of  her  many  friends. 
He  is  widely  known  and  honored  as  a  great  man 
of  God  who  a  long,  long  while  has  been  walking 
without  fear  on  the  way  of  faith. 

In  the  year  of  19 13  he  started  his  Pentecostal 
Sunday  School  Literature,  seeing  as  he  did  the 
great  need  of  a  full  gospel  even  in  this  direction. 
We  hereby  recommend  the  following  Quarterlies 
to  all  of  our  friends  who  are  engaged  in  Sunday 
School  work: 

Little  Bible  Lesson  Pictures  .   5  cents  per  quarter. 

Primary  Quarterly 5  cents  per  quarter. 

Intermediate  Quarterly   ....   5  cents  per  quarter. 

Bible  Class  Quarterly   6  cents  per  quarter. 

Little  Pentecostal  People  ...  10  cents  per  quarter. 

I         All  orders  should  be  sent  direct  to  Rev.  G,  F. 
I   Taylor,  Royston,  Ga.  [ 

A  |_Hi-— M— 'M^— Ml— 'HM— >M— •nn— ^HU'^— in^— wi-^M— an«— HO^— nn— («*— ■— w 


■i 


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